UC Santa Barbara Linguistics and Language Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services
- Public university
- Santa Barbara, CA
- About 125 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Santa Barbara linguistics and language studies graduates earn about what linguistics and language studies graduates earn nationally, $27,629 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $14,100 in federal loans, less than at 91% of linguistics and language studies programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying linguistics and language studies 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 linguistics and language studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Santa Barbara graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,702 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California linguistics and language 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 90% 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 about the same in their first year as other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $14,500 against $13,000.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $149 a month, or 6.5% 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, 21 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $19,573.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (60 of 67) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Santa Maria area are about 9% above the national average, so a $27,629 salary here buys what about $25,395 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 linguistics and language studies, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$101,370Median pay in California. 99,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interpreters and Translators
$70,770Median pay in California. 5,560 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UC Santa Barbara
Linguistics and Language Studies ranks 32nd 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 $27,629 one year after graduating and $52,393 five years after. The median across linguistics and language studies bachelor's programs in California is $22,362.
The median federal loan balance is $14,100, which ranks 5th lowest of 11 linguistics and language studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $149 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 51% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 90% (60 of 67) 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 linguistics and language 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