Which UC Riverside major has the lowest debt?

Microbiology graduates leave with a median of $14,121 in federal loans, the lowest among 42 UC Riverside bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UC Riverside cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $15,606 a year, and $49,806 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $14,304 a year.

How many UC Riverside programs report graduate pay?

43 bachelor's programs at UC Riverside report first-year pay, and 42 of them also report federal debt.

UC Riverside Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of California-Riverside
Public university
Riverside, CA
22,593 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

43 UC Riverside bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($81,034), and Neuroscience the least ($19,286). The median program pays $29,824.

In-state tuition and fees$15,606Per year. Out-of-state $49,806

Average net price after aid$14,304Per year

Graduation rate76%Within 6 years

Admission rate76%Of applicants

All 43 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	Computer ScienceAbout 310 graduates a year	$81,034	Not reported	$19,083	15th of 39
2	Information ScienceAbout 64 graduates a year	$76,090	Not reported	$24,417	1st of 2
3	Chemical EngineeringAbout 50 graduates a year	$68,245	$90,784	$17,413	6th of 10
4	Electrical EngineeringAbout 58 graduates a year	$66,430	$102,568	$19,954	17th of 21
5	Computer EngineeringAbout 45 graduates a year	$65,049	$117,682	$25,083	15th of 19
6	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 120 graduates a year	$62,554	$93,294	$21,000	23rd of 26
7	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 84 graduates a year	$61,342	$92,140	$19,877	11th of 15
8	Environmental EngineeringAbout 27 graduates a year	$59,309	$81,979	$18,068	3rd of 5
9	Business AdministrationAbout 836 graduates a year	$43,213	$74,583	$16,508	46th of 57
10	MicrobiologyAbout 35 graduates a year	$43,086	Not reported	$14,121	10th of 13
11	Other Social SciencesAbout 26 graduates a year	$39,934	$61,806	$17,833	3rd of 4
12	Public PolicyAbout 87 graduates a year	$39,867	$61,890	$19,161	2nd of 3
13	ChemistryAbout 62 graduates a year	$39,676	$56,178	$21,750	21st of 23
14	Business EconomicsGraduates a year not reported	$37,496	$62,909	$18,000	8th of 8
15	EconomicsAbout 299 graduates a year	$37,149	$66,935	$18,500	33rd of 35
16	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 44 graduates a year	$31,443	$53,291	$23,000	8th of 21
17	Cell Biology and AnatomyAbout 76 graduates a year	$31,148	$73,399	$17,861	9th of 10
18	Sustainability StudiesAbout 28 graduates a year	$30,698	Not reported	$20,045	1st of 1
19	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 39 graduates a year	$30,521	$61,938	$16,157	20th of 24
20	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 163 graduates a year	$30,077	$68,378	$17,250	17th of 19
21	Political ScienceAbout 265 graduates a year	$30,060	$59,096	$18,300	35th of 44
22	HistoryAbout 103 graduates a year	$29,824	$52,531	$19,330	12th of 30
23	SociologyAbout 325 graduates a year	$29,367	$53,798	$16,500	39th of 42
24	StatisticsAbout 25 graduates a year	$29,138	Not reported	$21,488	7th of 7
25	MathematicsAbout 172 graduates a year	$27,227	$63,375	$18,500	23rd of 23
26	International RelationsAbout 64 graduates a year	$27,021	$56,758	$18,914	12th of 12
27	BiologyAbout 705 graduates a year	$26,863	$61,749	$19,000	40th of 47
28	AnthropologyAbout 90 graduates a year	$26,178	$44,195	$21,250	16th of 22
29	Experimental PsychologyAbout 597 graduates a year	$25,654	Not reported	$18,500	7th of 8
30	PhilosophyAbout 44 graduates a year	$25,171	$61,942	$19,022	11th of 15
31	Film and PhotographyAbout 190 graduates a year	$24,840	$47,385	$20,500	13th of 25
32	Romance LanguagesAbout 57 graduates a year	$24,453	$54,555	$19,000	18th of 23
33	Foundations of EducationAbout 203 graduates a year	$23,447	Not reported	$15,000	1st of 1
34	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 80 graduates a year	$23,203	$61,690	$16,436	30th of 34
35	EnglishAbout 111 graduates a year	$23,139	$57,551	$18,284	28th of 35
36	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 11 graduates a year	$22,998	Not reported	Not reported	10th of 10
37	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 44 graduates a year	$21,792	$41,498	$17,500	16th of 29
38	Writing and RhetoricAbout 66 graduates a year	$21,765	$38,017	$20,000	9th of 10
39	International StudiesAbout 22 graduates a year	$21,428	$48,595	$20,500	9th of 9
40	MusicAbout 21 graduates a year	$20,408	Not reported	$26,651	17th of 24
41	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 47 graduates a year	$20,212	$40,306	$17,283	10th of 12
42	PhysicsAbout 33 graduates a year	$19,977	Not reported	$19,000	11th of 11
43	NeuroscienceAbout 136 graduates a year	$19,286	$65,261	$19,803	9th of 9

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.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$81,034
Information Science$76,090
Chemical Engineering$68,245
Electrical Engineering$66,430
Computer Engineering$65,049

Lowest median debt

Microbiology$14,121
Foundations of Education$15,000
Environmental Science and Conservation$16,157
Liberal Arts and General Studies$16,436
Sociology$16,500

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 836 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 705 graduates a year
Experimental PsychologyAbout 597 graduates a year
SociologyAbout 325 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 310 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $81,034 in their first year, the most of 43 UC Riverside 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