University of San Diego Electrical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering
- Private nonprofit university
- San Diego, CA
- About 28 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of San Diego electrical engineering graduates earn about what electrical engineering graduates earn nationally, $80,073 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $29,276 in federal loans, more than at 92% of electrical engineering programs in the country. Several California programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all electrical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of San Diego graduates earn more than the national figure and about $11,712 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California electrical engineering 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 48% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $310 a month, or 4.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the San Diego area are about 12% above the national average, so a $80,073 salary here buys what about $71,566 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 electrical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$210,280Median pay in California. 29,630 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Electrical Engineers
$144,040Median pay in California. 24,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer
$160,520Median pay in California. 20,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Computer Hardware Engineers
$185,180Median pay in California. 19,820 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About University of San Diego
Electrical Engineering ranks 3rd of 19 bachelor's programs at University of San Diego by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($104,948), Industrial Engineering ($80,644), and Electrical Engineering ($80,073).
Other electrical engineering bachelor's programs near San Diego
Common questions
The median graduate earns $80,073 one year after graduating and $118,396 five years after. The median across electrical engineering bachelor's programs in California is $78,247.
The median federal loan balance is $29,276, which ranks 18th lowest of 19 electrical engineering bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $310 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 37% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 32%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
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 electrical engineering 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