UC San Diego Theatre (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
- Public university
- La Jolla, CA
- About 63 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC San Diego theatre graduates earn less than graduates of most theatre programs nationally, $18,026 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $14,650 in federal loans, less than at 97% of theatre programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the California median of $20,538.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all theatre bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC San Diego graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,002 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California theatre 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 119% 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 $155 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (50 of 52) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Diego area are about 12% above the national average, so a $18,026 salary here buys what about $16,111 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 theatre, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Producers and Directors
$129,790Median pay in California. 34,110 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Writers and Authors
$86,480Median pay in California. 8,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UC San Diego
Theatre ranks 48th of 48 bachelor's programs at UC San Diego by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($112,006), Computer Engineering ($96,256), and Mathematics and Computer Science ($89,651).
Other theatre bachelor's programs near La Jolla
Common questions
The median graduate earns $18,026 one year after graduating and $39,424 five years after. The median across theatre bachelor's programs in California is $20,538.
The median federal loan balance is $14,650, which ranks 6th lowest of 23 theatre bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $155 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 81% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 115%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (50 of 52) 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 theatre 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