Which California business administration program has the lowest debt?

Riverside City College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $32,537.

How much do business administration graduates earn in California?

The median across 22 California business administration associate's programs is $29,222 in the first year after graduating and $53,747 five years after.

How many business administration associate's programs are in California?

22 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 17 of them also report federal debt.

Business Administration (Associate's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

22 programs report first-year pay
17 also report federal debt
Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California business administration associate's program pays its graduates $29,222 in their first year, $5,394 less than the national median. Mendocino College reports the highest first-year pay ($49,145), and Riverside City College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$29,222National $34,615

Median pay after 5 years$53,747National $44,516

Median federal debt$7,689National $13,418

Debt-to-earnings28%National 38%

All 22 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	Mendocino CollegeUkiah · public	$49,145	$42,458	$20,000	41%
2	San Bernardino Valley CollegeSan Bernardino · public	$44,999	$46,090	Not reported	Not reported
3	San Diego Mesa CollegeSan Diego · public	$40,642	$55,898	$8,000	20%
4	Sacramento City CollegeSacramento · public	$33,689	$50,695	$7,500	22%
5	San Diego City CollegeSan Diego · public	$33,350	$52,169	$10,625	32%
6	Riverside City CollegeRiverside · public	$32,537	Not reported	$5,500	17%
7	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga · public	$31,708	Not reported	$12,000	38%
8	Lemoore CollegeLemoore · public	$30,880	$46,209	$9,800	32%
9	Mt San Jacinto Community College DistrictSan Jacinto · public	$30,839	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana · public	$30,315	$48,762	$7,500	25%
11	Cuesta CollegeSan Luis Obispo · public	$29,983	$56,729	Not reported	Not reported
12	Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut · public	$28,460	Not reported	$6,250	22%
13	Modesto Junior CollegeModesto · public	$28,331	$41,094	Not reported	Not reported
14	Sierra CollegeRocklin · public	$28,324	Not reported	$9,500	34%
15	Fresno City CollegeFresno · public	$27,966	$46,195	$7,689	27%
16	Antelope Valley Community College DistrictLancaster · public	$26,096	$54,701	$10,625	41%
17	College of the DesertPalm Desert · public	$25,934	$54,334	$5,500	21%
18	Laurus CollegeSan Luis Obispo · private for-profit	$24,790	$35,985	$34,786	140%
19	West Valley CollegeSaratoga · public	$24,594	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
20	Pasadena City CollegePasadena · public	$20,816	$56,767	$5,681	27%
21	Cosumnes River CollegeSacramento · public	$19,699	$58,609	$5,500	28%
22	College of the SequoiasVisalia · public	$14,205	Not reported	$5,500	39%

5 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 10 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California business administration 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 17 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Mendocino College$49,145
San Bernardino Valley College$44,999
San Diego Mesa College$40,642
Sacramento City College$33,689
San Diego City College$33,350

Lowest median debt

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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$124,390

Median pay in California. 300,840 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $60,370Top 10%: $293,810

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$77,590

Median pay in California. 149,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $50,870Top 10%: $121,650

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$54,870

Median pay in California. 109,180 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $38,860Top 10%: $77,590

Project Management Specialists

$120,910

Median pay in California. 114,380 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,180Top 10%: $188,560

Common questions

Mendocino College in Ukiah reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,145. Its median federal debt is $20,000.

Business Administration (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked337 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in California, ranked57 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 business administration associate'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