UC Davis Management Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
- Public university
- Davis, CA
- About 502 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release ยท BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Davis management science graduates earn about what management science graduates earn nationally, $52,684 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $12,144 in federal loans, less than at 97% of management science programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying management science degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all management science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every California management science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $14,374 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $129 a month, or 2.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
50 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $26,285.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (323 of 338) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Sacramento area are about 7% above the national average, so a $52,684 salary here buys what about $49,390 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to management science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$124,390Median pay in California. 300,840 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Management Analysts
$101,460Median pay in California. 137,280 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Data Scientists
$141,590Median pay in California. 39,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Chief Executives
$218,600Median pay in California. 34,700 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 19,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About UC Davis
Management Science ranks 13th of 57 bachelor's programs at UC Davis by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($96,418), Computer and Information Science ($84,343), and Engineering ($82,956).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $52,684 one year after graduating. The median across management science bachelor's programs in California is $54,980.
The median federal loan balance is $12,144, which ranks 2nd lowest of 6 management science bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $129 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 23% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 39%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (323 of 338) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- 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 comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the management science program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024