Which California civil engineering program has the lowest debt?

USC reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,125, with first-year pay of $85,262.

How much do civil engineering graduates earn in California?

The median across 20 California civil engineering bachelor's programs is $73,541 in the first year after graduating and $99,644 five years after.

How many civil engineering bachelor's programs are in California?

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

Civil Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

20 programs report first-year pay
19 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Civil Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California civil engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $73,541 in their first year, $3,959 more than the national median. Loyola Marymount University reports the highest first-year pay ($87,790), and USC the lowest median debt ($8,125).

Median first-year pay$73,541National $69,582

Median pay after 5 years$99,644National $85,897

Median federal debt$18,820National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings26%National 35%

All 20 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	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$87,790	Not reported	$27,000	31%
2	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$85,262	$116,779	$8,125	10%
3	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$84,883	$111,831	Not reported	Not reported
4	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$80,673	$101,618	$20,424	25%
5	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$78,142	$104,581	$14,392	18%
6	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$75,758	$99,934	$16,500	22%
7	UCLALos Angeles · public	$75,510	$102,084	$19,444	26%
8	UC DavisDavis · public	$75,165	$98,091	$16,101	21%
9	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$73,835	$94,661	$19,700	27%
10	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$73,584	$96,325	$19,832	27%
11	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$73,497	$97,633	$27,000	37%
12	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$73,342	$98,200	$16,437	22%
13	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$73,178	$99,644	$18,767	26%
14	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$72,606	$93,096	$13,548	19%
15	Chico StateChico · public	$72,350	$101,629	$21,583	30%
16	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$71,342	$95,595	$19,124	27%
17	Fresno StateFresno · public	$71,093	$93,213	$15,267	21%
18	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$68,256	$100,807	$18,873	28%
19	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$65,478	$91,984	$16,400	25%
20	CSUNNorthridge · public	$62,768	$88,971	$18,732	30%

Santa Clara University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California civil 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 the 19 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Loyola Marymount University$87,790
USC$85,262
Santa Clara University$84,883
Cal Poly SLO$80,673
UC Berkeley$78,142

Lowest median debt

USC$8,125
Cal State Fullerton$13,548
UC Berkeley$14,392
Fresno State$15,267
UC Davis$16,101

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 civil engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Civil Engineers

$122,500

Median pay in California. 55,180 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 22,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $77,980Top 10%: $175,940

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$210,280

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $137,900Top 10%: $296,130

Environmental Engineers

$130,410

Median pay in California. 4,550 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $79,790Top 10%: $170,790

Petroleum Engineers

$143,590

Median pay in California. 1,060 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,780Top 10%: $207,370

Common questions

Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles reports the highest median first-year pay, $87,790. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Civil Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked207 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 civil engineering 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