Which San Francisco State major has the lowest debt?

Zoology graduates leave with a median of $11,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 55 San Francisco State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does San Francisco State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $7,950 a year, and $20,550 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $12,278 a year.

How many San Francisco State programs report graduate pay?

58 bachelor's programs at San Francisco State report first-year pay, and 55 of them also report federal debt.

San Francisco State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

San Francisco State University
Public university
San Francisco, CA
18,639 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

58 San Francisco State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($117,532), and Film and Photography the least ($18,654). The median program pays $36,381.

In-state tuition and fees$7,950Per year. Out-of-state $20,550

Average net price after aid$12,278Per year

Graduation rate50%Within 6 years

Admission rate96%Of applicants

All 58 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in California" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across California. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in California
1	NursingAbout 196 graduates a year	$117,532	$144,430	$16,875	6th of 35
2	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 70 graduates a year	$72,647	$99,619	$22,047	13th of 26
3	Civil EngineeringAbout 53 graduates a year	$68,256	$100,807	$18,873	18th of 20
4	Electrical EngineeringAbout 32 graduates a year	$67,345	$99,534	$16,125	16th of 21
5	FinanceGraduates a year not reported	$62,778	$77,321	$14,440	6th of 12
6	AccountingGraduates a year not reported	$60,607	$82,791	$11,971	16th of 23
7	International BusinessGraduates a year not reported	$58,560	$67,678	$22,374	1st of 8
8	MicrobiologyGraduates a year not reported	$56,071	$87,999	$24,120	1st of 13
9	Computer EngineeringAbout 30 graduates a year	$53,180	$111,112	$20,148	18th of 19
10	Computer and Information ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$52,288	$82,648	$19,716	11th of 18
11	MarketingGraduates a year not reported	$52,072	$73,408	$12,304	3rd of 13
12	Computer ScienceAbout 307 graduates a year	$50,553	$112,049	$16,500	33rd of 39
13	Urban StudiesAbout 9 graduates a year	$50,008	$57,943	$18,600	2nd of 5
14	Social WorkAbout 24 graduates a year	$48,750	$66,675	$17,259	1st of 16
15	Management ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$48,546	Not reported	$20,500	6th of 6
16	Business AdministrationAbout 1,023 graduates a year	$48,184	$79,995	$15,000	33rd of 57
17	Health SciencesAbout 74 graduates a year	$47,367	$62,443	$18,000	2nd of 13
18	EconomicsAbout 43 graduates a year	$46,310	$76,801	$13,750	24th of 35
19	Human ResourcesAbout 5 graduates a year	$46,041	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 6
20	MathematicsAbout 25 graduates a year	$44,257	$75,911	$18,697	8th of 23
21	ChemistryAbout 20 graduates a year	$44,140	$94,846	Not reported	11th of 23
22	Criminal JusticeAbout 204 graduates a year	$42,211	$64,458	$13,518	5th of 20
23	ZoologyGraduates a year not reported	$41,565	$59,685	$11,000	1st of 3
24	Cell Biology and AnatomyGraduates a year not reported	$40,794	$78,780	$19,000	5th of 10
25	CommunicationsAbout 229 graduates a year	$40,790	$69,437	$15,000	12th of 39
26	SociologyAbout 157 graduates a year	$40,763	$61,399	$15,000	5th of 42
27	Teacher EducationAbout 241 graduates a year	$38,237	$58,169	$12,692	6th of 18
28	Physiology and PathologyGraduates a year not reported	$36,707	$77,726	$17,480	3rd of 6
29	Political ScienceAbout 99 graduates a year	$36,502	$72,521	$17,000	17th of 44
30	BiologyAbout 369 graduates a year	$36,259	$67,380	$15,000	12th of 47
31	Family and Consumer SciencesAbout 4 graduates a year	$35,977	$54,183	$17,212	1st of 5
32	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 178 graduates a year	$34,845	$71,008	$18,000	9th of 27
33	PsychologyAbout 479 graduates a year	$34,803	$60,290	$15,000	11th of 54
34	Ecology and EvolutionGraduates a year not reported	$34,764	Not reported	Not reported	5th of 10
35	Hospitality ManagementAbout 25 graduates a year	$34,153	$56,485	$14,400	4th of 7
36	Writing and RhetoricAbout 16 graduates a year	$32,431	$43,400	$18,500	4th of 10
37	EnglishAbout 117 graduates a year	$32,339	$46,692	$17,243	6th of 35
38	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 51 graduates a year	$32,112	$61,526	$15,467	15th of 34
39	JournalismAbout 32 graduates a year	$31,788	$65,760	$16,875	7th of 14
40	MusicAbout 27 graduates a year	$31,621	$30,461	$15,000	1st of 24
41	International RelationsAbout 49 graduates a year	$31,254	$54,685	$16,750	11th of 12
42	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 83 graduates a year	$31,001	$55,308	$17,875	10th of 21
43	Nutrition ScienceAbout 81 graduates a year	$30,620	Not reported	$17,137	6th of 9
44	Apparel and TextilesAbout 62 graduates a year	$30,082	$65,412	$20,000	2nd of 4
45	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 129 graduates a year	$28,753	$62,463	$17,683	4th of 12
46	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 49 graduates a year	$28,749	$61,590	$16,150	23rd of 24
47	HistoryAbout 64 graduates a year	$28,718	$59,616	$15,000	15th of 30
48	PhilosophyAbout 34 graduates a year	$28,539	$55,124	$18,000	9th of 15
49	Parks and RecreationAbout 18 graduates a year	$28,427	$49,799	$16,797	8th of 9
50	AnthropologyAbout 23 graduates a year	$28,314	$50,064	$17,250	9th of 22
51	Communication Sciences and DisordersAbout 29 graduates a year	$27,296	$69,166	$19,250	6th of 13
52	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 173 graduates a year	$26,176	$62,316	$17,500	22nd of 31
53	Romance LanguagesAbout 14 graduates a year	$25,242	Not reported	$15,250	17th of 23
54	GeographyAbout 17 graduates a year	$24,875	$50,547	$13,768	13th of 13
55	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 102 graduates a year	$24,606	$36,596	$18,511	8th of 29
56	TheatreAbout 38 graduates a year	$23,004	$31,222	$16,250	4th of 23
57	East Asian LanguagesAbout 28 graduates a year	$19,861	$50,651	$14,108	3rd of 4
58	Film and PhotographyAbout 195 graduates a year	$18,654	$48,379	$17,850	24th of 25

Program names link to the program's own page, and California ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five California programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Zoology$11,000
Accounting$11,971
Marketing$12,304
Teacher Education$12,692
Criminal Justice$13,518

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 1,023 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 479 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 369 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 307 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 241 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $117,532 in their first year, the most of 58 San Francisco State bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels