UC Santa Barbara Film and Photography (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Film/Video and Photographic Arts
- Public university
- Santa Barbara, CA
- About 174 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Santa Barbara film and photography graduates earn about what film and photography graduates earn nationally, $28,608 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,000 in federal loans, less than at 96% of film and photography programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying film and photography 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 film and photography bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Santa Barbara graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,302 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California film and photography 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 84% 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 $1,689 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 $159 a month, or 6.7% 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, 45 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $27,262.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
93% of graduates (126 of 136) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Santa Maria area are about 9% above the national average, so a $28,608 salary here buys what about $26,295 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 film and photography, 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.
Photographers
$47,840Median pay in California. 7,980 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Film and Video Editors
$88,490Median pay in California. 8,110 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film
$106,900Median pay in California. 4,700 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UC Santa Barbara
Film and Photography ranks 31st 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).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $28,608 one year after graduating and $52,687 five years after. The median across film and photography bachelor's programs in California is $24,840.
The median federal loan balance is $15,000, which ranks the lowest of 25 film and photography bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $159 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 52% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 98%, 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, usually with more debt.
Most do. 93% (126 of 136) 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 film and photography 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