Which UC Santa Cruz major has the lowest debt?

Chemistry graduates leave with a median of $15,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 35 UC Santa Cruz bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UC Santa Cruz cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $16,005 a year, and $50,205 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $17,890 a year.

How many UC Santa Cruz programs report graduate pay?

35 bachelor's programs at UC Santa Cruz report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

UC Santa Cruz Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of California-Santa Cruz
Public university
Santa Cruz, CA
17,940 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

35 UC Santa Cruz bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Engineering pays the most in the first year ($79,969), and Fine and Studio Arts the least ($21,106). The median program pays $33,081.

In-state tuition and fees$16,005Per year. Out-of-state $50,205

Average net price after aid$17,890Per year

Graduation rate75%Within 6 years

Admission rate66%Of applicants

All 35 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in California" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across California. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in California
1	Computer EngineeringAbout 125 graduates a year	$79,969	$137,877	$23,392	6th of 19
2	Electrical EngineeringAbout 30 graduates a year	$78,842	$124,740	$17,048	10th of 21
3	Computer ScienceAbout 658 graduates a year	$75,150	$120,928	$16,666	17th of 39
4	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 5 graduates a year	$55,856	$98,115	$22,500	14th of 15
5	Information TechnologyAbout 92 graduates a year	$55,773	$108,700	$20,020	1st of 1
6	Business EconomicsAbout 280 graduates a year	$52,029	$89,932	$16,500	5th of 8
7	EconomicsAbout 159 graduates a year	$50,518	$88,583	$18,017	20th of 35
8	Cell Biology and AnatomyAbout 178 graduates a year	$45,088	$79,429	$19,000	3rd of 10
9	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 55 graduates a year	$43,362	$72,711	$20,833	4th of 10
10	MathematicsAbout 96 graduates a year	$40,798	$76,366	$19,232	9th of 23
11	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 57 graduates a year	$40,320	$75,833	$18,959	12th of 19
12	ChemistryAbout 54 graduates a year	$39,700	$66,290	$15,000	20th of 23
13	PhysicsAbout 36 graduates a year	$37,859	Not reported	$16,250	10th of 11
14	BiologyAbout 215 graduates a year	$37,651	$70,452	$20,703	7th of 47
15	Legal StudiesAbout 126 graduates a year	$36,941	$62,817	$18,416	3rd of 3
16	Cognitive ScienceAbout 123 graduates a year	$35,384	$76,561	$19,500	6th of 8
17	Astronomy and AstrophysicsAbout 40 graduates a year	$35,171	Not reported	$20,500	2nd of 2
18	HistoryAbout 104 graduates a year	$33,081	$48,101	$18,279	4th of 30
19	Romance LanguagesAbout 16 graduates a year	$32,934	$51,675	$17,340	9th of 23
20	Political ScienceAbout 141 graduates a year	$31,882	$63,776	$16,782	31st of 44
21	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 120 graduates a year	$31,140	$56,551	$19,747	9th of 21
22	PsychologyAbout 499 graduates a year	$30,730	$59,093	$18,902	26th of 54
23	PhilosophyAbout 51 graduates a year	$30,285	$50,265	$15,832	4th of 15
24	Community Organization and AdvocacyAbout 31 graduates a year	$29,617	$52,240	$17,750	2nd of 2
25	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 167 graduates a year	$29,152	$60,229	$18,500	22nd of 24
26	Behavioral SciencesGraduates a year not reported	$28,709	Not reported	$17,500	3rd of 3
27	SociologyAbout 192 graduates a year	$28,495	$56,389	$16,500	40th of 42
28	Ecology and EvolutionAbout 153 graduates a year	$25,810	$40,513	$18,887	9th of 10
29	Graphic CommunicationsGraduates a year not reported	$25,358	Not reported	$20,714	6th of 8
30	NeuroscienceAbout 46 graduates a year	$25,034	$63,496	$19,500	7th of 9
31	Film and PhotographyAbout 173 graduates a year	$23,614	$45,511	$16,439	16th of 25
32	AnthropologyAbout 124 graduates a year	$23,152	$47,407	$17,875	19th of 22
33	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 175 graduates a year	$21,793	$41,829	$17,491	8th of 12
34	TheatreAbout 24 graduates a year	$21,638	$35,394	$19,500	9th of 23
35	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 115 graduates a year	$21,106	$35,979	$19,500	21st of 29

Program names link to the program's own page, and California ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five California programs in the field do too.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Engineering$79,969
Electrical Engineering$78,842
Computer Science$75,150
Biomedical Engineering$55,856
Information Technology$55,773

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

Computer ScienceAbout 658 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 499 graduates a year
Business EconomicsAbout 280 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 215 graduates a year
SociologyAbout 192 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Engineering graduates earn a median of $79,969 in their first year, the most of 35 UC Santa Cruz bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels