How much do communication sciences and disorders graduates earn in California?

The median across 13 California communication sciences and disorders bachelor's programs is $24,594 in the first year after graduating and $68,677 five years after.

Communication Sciences and Disorders (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: Which California communication sciences and disorders program has the lowest debt?

Cal State Long Beach reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,000, with first-year pay of $29,270.

Q: How many communication sciences and disorders bachelor's programs are in California?

13 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 13 of them also report federal debt.

13 programs report first-year pay
13 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Communication Disorders Sciences and Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California communication sciences and disorders bachelor's program pays its graduates $24,594 in their first year, $232 less than the national median. California Baptist University reports the highest first-year pay ($38,559), and Cal State Long Beach the lowest median debt ($12,000).

Median first-year pay$24,594National $24,826

Median pay after 5 years$68,677National $59,051

Median federal debt$18,006National $22,217

Debt-to-earnings68%National 80%

All 13 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	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$38,559	$53,473	$26,375	68%
2	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$34,924	$75,421	$18,261	52%
3	Chico StateChico · public	$29,297	$61,935	$19,222	66%
4	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$29,270	$66,231	$12,000	41%
5	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$28,702	$45,345	$12,500	44%
6	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$27,296	$69,166	$19,250	71%
7	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$24,594	$65,573	$15,000	61%
8	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$22,915	$62,467	$17,750	77%
9	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$22,567	Not reported	$15,998	71%
10	Fresno StateFresno · public	$22,463	$62,131	$17,336	77%
11	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$22,378	$75,255	$15,000	67%
12	CSUNNorthridge · public	$22,310	$70,031	$15,356	69%
13	University of RedlandsRedlands · private nonprofit	$21,354	$68,187	$25,000	117%

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California communication sciences and disorders 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 13 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 communication sciences and disorders, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Speech-Language Pathologists

$118,970

Median pay in California. 16,930 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 17% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $79,750Top 10%: $160,900

Audiologists

$114,910

Median pay in California. 1,740 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 600 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $62,090Top 10%: $158,640

Common questions

California Baptist University in Riverside reports the highest median first-year pay, $38,559. Its median federal debt is $26,375.

Communication Sciences and Disorders (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked98 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 communication sciences and disorders 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