Which California biochemistry and molecular biology program has the lowest debt?

USC reports the lowest median federal debt, $3,750, with first-year pay of $34,468.

How much do biochemistry and molecular biology graduates earn in California?

The median across 19 California biochemistry and molecular biology bachelor's programs is $42,266 in the first year after graduating and $76,598 five years after.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many biochemistry and molecular biology bachelor's programs are in California?

19 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

19 programs report first-year pay
16 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California biochemistry and molecular biology bachelor's program pays its graduates $42,266 in their first year, $4,023 more than the national median. Cal State San Marcos reports the highest first-year pay ($57,682), and USC the lowest median debt ($3,750).

Median first-year pay$42,266National $38,243

Median pay after 5 years$76,598National $68,953

Median federal debt$16,965National $23,000

Debt-to-earnings37%National 57%

All 19 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$57,682	Not reported	$16,666	29%
2	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$57,538	$72,627	$17,500	30%
3	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$50,428	$66,319	$16,730	33%
4	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$49,100	$90,796	$9,500	19%
5	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$48,728	$84,844	$27,500	56%
6	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$46,689	Not reported	$16,500	35%
7	CSUNNorthridge · public	$45,453	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$45,066	$76,922	$17,500	39%
9	Chico StateChico · public	$42,886	Not reported	$23,000	54%
10	UC DavisDavis · public	$42,266	$87,815	$11,208	27%
11	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$42,200	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
12	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$40,320	$75,833	$18,959	47%
13	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$38,869	$76,273	$17,200	44%
14	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$36,841	$68,989	$11,000	30%
15	UCLALos Angeles · public	$35,210	$76,967	$14,920	42%
16	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$34,468	$88,746	$3,750	11%
17	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$30,077	$68,378	$17,250	57%
18	Point Loma Nazarene UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$27,604	Not reported	$27,000	98%
19	Fresno StateFresno · public	$26,380	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

CSUN, UC Irvine, and Fresno State report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California biochemistry and molecular biology 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 the 16 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

USC$3,750
UC Santa Barbara$9,500
Cal State Long Beach$11,000
UC Davis$11,208
UCLA$14,920

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to biochemistry and molecular biology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$136,990

Median pay in California. 29,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,320Top 10%: $180,060

Natural Sciences Managers

$210,230

Median pay in California. 14,950 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $130,730Top 10%: $330,050

Biological Technicians

$71,440

Median pay in California. 9,210 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,700Top 10%: $121,670

Biochemists and Biophysicists

$139,580

Median pay in California. 3,240 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $83,580Top 10%: $208,210

Common questions

Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos reports the highest median first-year pay, $57,682. Its median federal debt is $16,666.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked131 programs by pay and debt

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.
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.
Medians are across the biochemistry and molecular biology bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024