Which UC San Diego major has the lowest debt?

Microbiology graduates leave with a median of $13,811 in federal loans, the lowest among 48 UC San Diego bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UC San Diego cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $16,758 a year, and $50,958 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $12,470 a year.

How many UC San Diego programs report graduate pay?

48 bachelor's programs at UC San Diego report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

UC San Diego Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of California-San Diego
Public university
La Jolla, CA
34,948 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

48 UC San Diego bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($112,006), and Theatre the least ($18,026). The median program pays $38,334.

In-state tuition and fees$16,758Per year. Out-of-state $50,958

Average net price after aid$12,470Per year

Graduation rate86%Within 6 years

Admission rate27%Of applicants

All 48 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 518 graduates a year	$112,006	$160,463	$16,550	7th of 39
2	Computer EngineeringAbout 174 graduates a year	$96,256	$154,498	$18,497	4th of 19
3	Mathematics and Computer ScienceAbout 299 graduates a year	$89,651	Not reported	$18,887	3rd of 3
4	Electrical EngineeringAbout 189 graduates a year	$80,687	$120,436	$20,342	7th of 21
5	Bioinformatics and Computational BiologyAbout 75 graduates a year	$76,592	$138,331	$19,724	1st of 1
6	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 147 graduates a year	$69,555	$99,554	$20,000	17th of 26
7	Biological EngineeringAbout 21 graduates a year	$67,016	Not reported	$14,933	1st of 1
8	Civil EngineeringAbout 93 graduates a year	$65,478	$91,984	$16,400	19th of 20
9	Aerospace EngineeringAbout 87 graduates a year	$65,401	$107,359	$21,305	9th of 9
10	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 92 graduates a year	$65,045	$118,528	$20,000	10th of 15
11	Management ScienceAbout 273 graduates a year	$60,973	$86,000	$17,500	2nd of 6
12	Chemical EngineeringAbout 101 graduates a year	$59,508	$97,911	$18,157	8th of 10
13	Other EngineeringAbout 27 graduates a year	$56,522	$94,292	$19,250	2nd of 3
14	MathematicsAbout 227 graduates a year	$52,339	$70,456	$16,250	2nd of 23
15	EconomicsAbout 364 graduates a year	$51,192	$84,118	$15,000	19th of 35
16	PhysicsAbout 60 graduates a year	$48,951	$84,411	$16,800	7th of 11
17	Other PsychologyAbout 106 graduates a year	$47,672	Not reported	$18,200	1st of 2
18	ChemistryAbout 227 graduates a year	$45,310	$83,272	$16,100	7th of 23
19	International StudiesAbout 511 graduates a year	$45,168	$73,765	$16,500	2nd of 9
20	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 137 graduates a year	$45,066	$76,922	$17,500	8th of 19
21	MicrobiologyAbout 61 graduates a year	$43,608	Not reported	$13,811	9th of 13
22	Applied MathematicsAbout 132 graduates a year	$42,859	$79,708	$15,516	6th of 8
23	Cognitive ScienceAbout 722 graduates a year	$39,839	$85,159	$17,481	5th of 8
24	Public HealthAbout 338 graduates a year	$39,144	$67,103	$15,280	8th of 16
25	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 73 graduates a year	$37,524	$74,028	$18,000	9th of 24
26	Urban StudiesAbout 33 graduates a year	$37,074	$71,507	$17,500	4th of 5
27	StatisticsAbout 63 graduates a year	$36,676	Not reported	$19,237	6th of 7
28	SociologyAbout 150 graduates a year	$36,464	$60,237	$14,413	15th of 42
29	BiologyAbout 316 graduates a year	$34,504	$69,381	$17,667	20th of 47
30	Other Visual and Performing ArtsGraduates a year not reported	$34,401	Not reported	$20,000	1st of 1
31	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 53 graduates a year	$33,489	$63,343	$19,342	5th of 14
32	Political ScienceAbout 383 graduates a year	$33,345	$69,947	$16,030	26th of 44
33	CommunicationsAbout 244 graduates a year	$33,046	$65,361	$14,568	29th of 39
34	NeuroscienceAbout 177 graduates a year	$32,081	$69,515	$19,000	4th of 9
35	Ecology and EvolutionAbout 127 graduates a year	$31,088	$55,518	$18,834	7th of 10
36	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 33 graduates a year	$30,984	$59,797	$23,747	11th of 21
37	PsychologyAbout 350 graduates a year	$29,144	$56,911	$16,124	34th of 54
38	AnthropologyAbout 71 graduates a year	$28,543	$53,445	$13,958	8th of 22
39	Clinical and Counseling PsychologyAbout 218 graduates a year	$26,953	$63,237	$15,000	4th of 5
40	PhilosophyAbout 39 graduates a year	$24,669	Not reported	$15,832	12th of 15
41	EnglishAbout 37 graduates a year	$24,523	Not reported	$14,800	20th of 35
42	Experimental PsychologyAbout 103 graduates a year	$23,420	$70,223	$15,500	8th of 8
43	Other English StudiesAbout 58 graduates a year	$21,788	$49,896	$19,281	2nd of 2
44	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 57 graduates a year	$21,777	$45,044	$15,218	17th of 29
45	HistoryAbout 73 graduates a year	$21,713	$60,566	$17,467	27th of 30
46	MusicAbout 15 graduates a year	$21,592	$44,134	$18,938	12th of 24
47	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 13 graduates a year	$19,809	$52,751	$13,998	11th of 12
48	TheatreAbout 63 graduates a year	$18,026	$39,424	$14,650	21st of 23

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.

3 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$112,006
Computer Engineering$96,256
Mathematics and Computer Science$89,651
Electrical Engineering$80,687
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology$76,592

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

Cognitive ScienceAbout 722 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 518 graduates a year
International StudiesAbout 511 graduates a year
Political ScienceAbout 383 graduates a year
EconomicsAbout 364 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $112,006 in their first year, the most of 48 UC San Diego 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