UC Merced Public Health (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Public Health
- Public university
- Merced, CA
- About 112 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Merced public health graduates earn about what public health graduates earn nationally, $36,555 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,502 in federal loans, less than at 88% of public health programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying public health 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 public health bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every California public health 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 $1,549 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 $164 a month, or 5.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 28 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $25,697.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
95% of graduates (106 of 111) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $36,555 salary here buys what about $37,197 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 public health, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Medical and Health Services Managers
$141,480Median pay in California. 75,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Compliance Officers
$96,980Median pay in California. 49,880 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$136,990Median pay in California. 29,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
$102,840Median pay in California. 16,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 19% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UC Merced
Public Health ranks 10th of 16 bachelor's programs at UC Merced by first-year earnings. The top three are Mechanical Engineering ($67,096), Computer Engineering ($58,835), and Biomedical Engineering ($57,223).
Other public health bachelor's programs near Merced
Common questions
The median graduate earns $36,555 one year after graduating. The median across public health bachelor's programs in California is $39,078.
The median federal loan balance is $15,502, which ranks 10th lowest of 16 public health bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $164 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 42% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 63%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay.
Most do. 95% (106 of 111) 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 public health 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