UC San Diego Urban Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Urban Studies/Affairs
- Public university
- La Jolla, CA
- About 33 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC San Diego urban studies graduates earn about what urban studies graduates earn nationally, $37,074 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $17,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $19,458. 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 urban studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC San Diego graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California urban studies 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 93% 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 $4,737 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
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
86% of graduates (38 of 44) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Diego area are about 12% above the national average, so a $37,074 salary here buys what about $33,135 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 urban studies, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Urban and Regional Planners
$109,610Median pay in California. 7,460 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master'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 San Diego
Urban Studies ranks 26th 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).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,074 one year after graduating and $71,507 five years after. The median across urban studies bachelor's programs in California is $46,826.
The median federal loan balance is $17,500, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 urban studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $186 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 47% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 47%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 86% (38 of 44) 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 urban studies 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