UC Santa Cruz Computer Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Computer Science
- Public university
- Santa Cruz, CA
- About 658 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Santa Cruz computer science graduates earn about what computer science graduates earn nationally, $75,150 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $16,666 in federal loans, less than at 84% of computer science programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying computer science 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 computer science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Santa Cruz graduates earn more than the national figure and about $8,969 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California computer science 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 61% 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 $17,323 against $15,000.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $177 a month, or 2.8% 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, 118 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $32,322.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
86% of graduates (473 of 550) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Santa Cruz area are about 10% above the national average, so a $75,150 salary here buys what about $68,383 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 computer science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Software Developers
$174,410Median pay in California. 284,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Computer and Information Systems Managers
$218,290Median pay in California. 94,720 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Data Scientists
$141,590Median pay in California. 39,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Information Security Analysts
$138,570Median pay in California. 15,570 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About UC Santa Cruz
Computer Science ranks 3rd of 35 bachelor's programs at UC Santa Cruz by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($79,969), Electrical Engineering ($78,842), and Computer Science ($75,150).
Other computer science bachelor's programs near Santa Cruz
Common questions
The median graduate earns $75,150 one year after graduating and $120,928 five years after. The median across computer science bachelor's programs in California is $68,398.
The median federal loan balance is $16,666, which ranks 17th lowest of 37 computer science bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $177 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 22% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 86% (473 of 550) 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 computer science 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