University of San Francisco Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Private nonprofit university
- San Francisco, CA
- About 23 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of San Francisco design and applied arts graduates earn about what design and applied arts graduates earn nationally, $32,070 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $27,000. 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 design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of San Francisco graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,082 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California design and applied arts 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 103% 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 $281 a month, or 10.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
73% of graduates (22 of 30) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Francisco area are about 16% above the national average, so a $32,070 salary here buys what about $27,739 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$75,130Median pay in California. 27,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$136,110Median pay in California. 27,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$80,230Median pay in California. 8,500 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$137,780Median pay in California. 12,430 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About University of San Francisco
Design and Applied Arts ranks 20th of 22 bachelor's programs at University of San Francisco by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($101,731), Computer Science ($89,915), and Accounting ($72,588).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near San Francisco
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,070 one year after graduating and $65,023 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California is $32,070.
The median federal loan balance is $26,500, which ranks 15th lowest of 26 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $281 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 83% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 73% (22 of 30) 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 design and applied arts 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