Which California clinical and counseling psychology program has the lowest debt?

Cal State LA reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,500, with first-year pay of $29,457.

How much do clinical and counseling psychology graduates earn in California?

The median across 5 California clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's programs is $29,457 in the first year after graduating and $58,931 five years after.

Clinical and Counseling Psychology (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's programs are in California?

5 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

5 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $29,457 in their first year, $4,691 less than the national median. Los Angeles Pacific University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,803), and Cal State LA the lowest median debt ($12,500).

Median first-year pay$29,457National $34,148

Median pay after 5 years$58,931National $49,634

Median federal debt$21,000National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings56%National 81%

All 5 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	Los Angeles Pacific UniversityGlendora · private nonprofit	$41,803	Not reported	$46,561	111%
2	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$40,316	Not reported	$14,958	37%
3	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$29,457	$48,688	$12,500	42%
4	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$26,953	$63,237	$15,000	56%
5	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$21,473	$58,931	$27,000	126%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California clinical and counseling psychology 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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 clinical and counseling psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Human Resources Specialists

$83,500

Median pay in California. 104,000 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,770Top 10%: $151,410

Management Analysts

$101,460

Median pay in California. 137,280 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $61,360Top 10%: $174,970

Training and Development Specialists

$75,790

Median pay in California. 46,530 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,320Top 10%: $134,270

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

$86,500

Median pay in California. 45,140 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $51,890Top 10%: $136,660

Common questions

Los Angeles Pacific University in Glendora reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,803. Its median federal debt is $46,561.

Clinical and Counseling Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked54 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 clinical and counseling psychology 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