Which UC Irvine major has the lowest debt?

Romance Languages graduates leave with a median of $9,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 46 UC Irvine bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UC Irvine cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $15,722 a year, and $49,922 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $14,251 a year.

How many UC Irvine programs report graduate pay?

49 bachelor's programs at UC Irvine report first-year pay, and 46 of them also report federal debt.

UC Irvine Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of California-Irvine
Public university
Irvine, CA
30,197 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

49 UC Irvine bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($87,715), and Human Biology the least ($12,187). The median program pays $35,404.

In-state tuition and fees$15,722Per year. Out-of-state $49,922

Average net price after aid$14,251Per year

Graduation rate87%Within 6 years

Admission rate29%Of applicants

All 49 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 47 graduates a year	$87,715	$118,467	$13,400	35th of 35
2	Computer ScienceAbout 467 graduates a year	$82,161	$132,705	$15,500	14th of 39
3	Electrical EngineeringAbout 96 graduates a year	$80,412	$103,261	$19,000	8th of 21
4	Computer EngineeringAbout 243 graduates a year	$79,812	$115,244	$19,233	7th of 19
5	Civil EngineeringAbout 110 graduates a year	$73,835	$94,661	$19,700	9th of 20
6	Management Information SystemsAbout 64 graduates a year	$68,786	$129,344	$16,500	3rd of 6
7	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 284 graduates a year	$67,633	$95,534	$14,500	18th of 26
8	Aerospace EngineeringAbout 95 graduates a year	$67,425	$102,765	$18,950	7th of 9
9	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 119 graduates a year	$67,170	$109,350	$17,390	8th of 15
10	Materials EngineeringAbout 24 graduates a year	$58,177	Not reported	$9,987	3rd of 3
11	Chemical EngineeringAbout 59 graduates a year	$57,540	$102,280	$18,500	9th of 10
12	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 15 graduates a year	$56,003	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 6
13	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 90 graduates a year	$53,517	$122,422	$20,000	10th of 18
14	Business AdministrationAbout 360 graduates a year	$48,786	$89,501	$13,000	29th of 57
15	MathematicsAbout 250 graduates a year	$45,924	$75,692	$19,000	6th of 23
16	Business EconomicsAbout 576 graduates a year	$44,277	$74,617	$15,000	6th of 8
17	EconomicsAbout 386 graduates a year	$44,087	$73,054	$15,499	26th of 35
18	ChemistryAbout 117 graduates a year	$43,766	$72,001	$13,276	12th of 23
19	PhysicsAbout 86 graduates a year	$43,144	Not reported	$15,000	8th of 11
20	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 30 graduates a year	$42,200	Not reported	Not reported	11th of 19
21	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 25 graduates a year	$38,804	$71,246	$15,000	6th of 10
22	Romance LanguagesAbout 31 graduates a year	$36,692	$53,654	$9,500	3rd of 23
23	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 62 graduates a year	$36,304	$59,960	$12,477	12th of 24
24	Public HealthAbout 392 graduates a year	$35,463	$64,449	$17,285	12th of 16
25	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 66 graduates a year	$35,404	$59,782	$16,332	5th of 8
26	Social SciencesAbout 18 graduates a year	$34,871	Not reported	$16,338	5th of 10
27	CriminologyAbout 465 graduates a year	$34,522	$59,960	$15,865	3rd of 7
28	Urban StudiesAbout 67 graduates a year	$34,385	$62,232	$15,000	5th of 5
29	SociologyAbout 254 graduates a year	$34,050	$56,549	$15,000	28th of 42
30	International StudiesAbout 128 graduates a year	$33,388	$62,832	$15,250	7th of 9
31	Political ScienceAbout 269 graduates a year	$31,976	$69,342	$16,293	30th of 44
32	JournalismAbout 33 graduates a year	$31,102	Not reported	$16,900	8th of 14
33	Area StudiesAbout 22 graduates a year	$30,897	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 8
34	AnthropologyAbout 51 graduates a year	$30,509	$57,629	$16,667	5th of 22
35	Experimental PsychologyAbout 633 graduates a year	$29,830	$62,639	$13,000	4th of 8
36	DanceAbout 37 graduates a year	$28,112	$32,865	$20,080	2nd of 7
37	PsychologyAbout 457 graduates a year	$27,115	$56,253	$14,883	47th of 54
38	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 25 graduates a year	$26,712	$50,699	$18,998	20th of 21
39	EducationAbout 272 graduates a year	$26,106	$58,011	$15,575	2nd of 2
40	EnglishAbout 144 graduates a year	$26,021	$52,508	$18,176	17th of 35
41	BiologyAbout 766 graduates a year	$25,388	$72,132	$15,767	41st of 47
42	HistoryAbout 67 graduates a year	$23,480	$68,186	$15,929	25th of 30
43	NeuroscienceAbout 55 graduates a year	$21,818	Not reported	$20,500	8th of 9
44	Film and PhotographyAbout 175 graduates a year	$21,397	$44,541	$16,300	20th of 25
45	PhilosophyAbout 38 graduates a year	$20,922	$55,157	$23,705	13th of 15
46	Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical SciencesAbout 116 graduates a year	$20,538	$92,028	$15,026	2nd of 2
47	TheatreAbout 96 graduates a year	$20,461	$27,561	$17,862	14th of 23
48	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 122 graduates a year	$16,989	$48,982	$17,635	26th of 29
49	Human BiologyAbout 104 graduates a year	$12,187	Not reported	$20,900	4th of 4

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

Romance Languages$9,500
Materials Engineering$9,987
Environmental Science and Conservation$12,477
Business Administration$13,000
Experimental Psychology$13,000

Largest programs

BiologyAbout 766 graduates a year
Experimental PsychologyAbout 633 graduates a year
Business EconomicsAbout 576 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 467 graduates a year
CriminologyAbout 465 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $87,715 in their first year, the most of 49 UC Irvine 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