UC Riverside Anthropology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Anthropology
- Public university
- Riverside, CA
- About 90 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Riverside anthropology graduates earn about what anthropology graduates earn nationally, $26,178 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,962. Several California programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all anthropology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Riverside graduates earn about the national figure but about $5,338 less than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California anthropology 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 69% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $225 a month, or 10.3% 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, 30 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $13,567.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
92% of graduates (108 of 117) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Riverside area are about 6% above the national average, so a $26,178 salary here buys what about $24,594 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 anthropology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
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.
Forensic Science Technicians
$102,100Median pay in California. 2,800 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Anthropologists and Archeologists
$72,240Median pay in California. 2,060 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About UC Riverside
Anthropology ranks 28th of 43 bachelor's programs at UC Riverside by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($81,034), Information Science ($76,090), and Chemical Engineering ($68,245).
Other anthropology bachelor's programs near Riverside
Common questions
The median graduate earns $26,178 one year after graduating and $44,195 five years after. The median across anthropology bachelor's programs in California is $27,803.
The median federal loan balance is $21,250, which ranks 22nd lowest of 22 anthropology bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $225 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 81% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 81%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 92% (108 of 117) 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 anthropology 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