UC Merced Sociology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Sociology
- Public university
- Merced, CA
- About 95 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Merced sociology graduates earn about what sociology graduates earn nationally, $37,092 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $17,515 in federal loans, less than at 87% of sociology programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying sociology 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 sociology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Merced graduates earn about the national figure but about $7,154 less than the California median. Several California programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every California sociology 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.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 33% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $186 a month, or 6.0% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
99% of graduates (89 of 90) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $37,092 salary here buys what about $37,743 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 sociology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Social Science Research Assistants
$60,250Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Sociologists
$125,770Median pay in California. 590 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About UC Merced
Sociology ranks 9th 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 sociology bachelor's programs near Merced
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,092 one year after graduating and $49,395 five years after. The median across sociology bachelor's programs in California is $34,628.
The median federal loan balance is $17,515, which ranks 27th lowest of 41 sociology bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $186 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 47% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 99% (89 of 90) 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 sociology 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