UC Santa Barbara Anthropology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Anthropology
- Public university
- Santa Barbara, CA
- About 121 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Santa Barbara anthropology graduates earn more than graduates of most anthropology programs nationally, $31,420 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $19,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,962. It is one of the higher-paying anthropology degrees in California.
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 Santa Barbara graduates earn more than the national figure and about $8,544 more 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 85% 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 $2,354 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. 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 $207 a month, or 7.9% 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, 37 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $23,756.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
86% of graduates (98 of 114) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Santa Maria area are about 9% above the national average, so a $31,420 salary here buys what about $28,879 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 Santa Barbara
Anthropology ranks 27th of 36 bachelor's programs at UC Santa Barbara by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($107,776), Computer Engineering ($91,387), and Mechanical Engineering ($81,108).
Other anthropology bachelor's programs near Santa Barbara
Common questions
The median graduate earns $31,420 one year after graduating and $58,077 five years after. The median across anthropology bachelor's programs in California is $27,803.
The median federal loan balance is $19,500, which ranks 18th lowest of 22 anthropology bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $207 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 62% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 81%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay.
Most do. 86% (98 of 114) 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