Which California computer science program has the lowest debt?

Stanford University reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,399, with first-year pay of $138,613.

How much do computer science graduates earn in California?

The median across 39 California computer science bachelor's programs is $68,398 in the first year after graduating and $111,960 five years after.

How many computer science bachelor's programs are in California?

39 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 37 of them also report federal debt.

Computer Science (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

39 programs report first-year pay
37 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Computer Science

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California computer science bachelor's program pays its graduates $68,398 in their first year, $2,002 less than the national median. California Institute of Technology reports the highest first-year pay ($173,344), and Stanford University the lowest median debt ($10,399).

Median first-year pay$68,398National $70,400

Median pay after 5 years$111,960National $105,613

Median federal debt$17,750National $23,308

Debt-to-earnings25%National 34%

All 39 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 Institute of TechnologyPasadena · private nonprofit	$173,344	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$149,866	$225,140	$13,900	9%
3	Pomona CollegeClaremont · private nonprofit	$143,084	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Stanford UniversityStanford · private nonprofit	$138,613	$247,797	$10,399	8%
5	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$137,284	$180,906	$20,178	15%
6	Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont · private nonprofit	$132,265	$220,204	$22,949	17%
7	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$112,006	$160,463	$16,550	15%
8	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$111,141	Not reported	$19,298	17%
9	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$107,776	$145,485	$11,000	10%
10	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$104,948	Not reported	$19,719	19%
11	University of the PacificStockton · private nonprofit	$90,476	$96,655	$23,000	25%
12	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$89,915	$149,331	$22,792	25%
13	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$87,383	$84,278	$29,500	34%
14	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$82,161	$132,705	$15,500	19%
15	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$81,034	Not reported	$19,083	24%
16	Chico StateChico · public	$81,021	$125,103	$20,000	25%
17	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$75,150	$120,928	$16,666	22%
18	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$74,523	$114,373	$16,499	22%
19	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside · public	$71,458	$86,576	$16,500	23%
20	California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks · private nonprofit	$68,398	$91,699	$25,500	37%
21	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$67,125	Not reported	$24,109	36%
22	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$66,481	$147,502	$20,305	31%
23	Occidental CollegeLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$63,845	Not reported	$22,067	35%
24	CSUNNorthridge · public	$62,821	$113,922	$18,483	29%
25	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$60,740	$107,324	$16,500	27%
26	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$60,645	$110,266	$12,850	21%
27	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$60,378	$93,142	$14,619	24%
28	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$60,371	$111,870	$15,000	25%
29	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$60,028	$108,027	$15,625	26%
30	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$59,374	$119,989	$18,750	32%
31	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$57,307	$108,989	$16,500	29%
32	Fresno StateFresno · public	$53,566	$91,077	$17,775	33%
33	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$50,553	$112,049	$16,500	33%
34	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$45,846	$94,648	$17,020	37%
35	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$44,530	$100,735	$15,321	34%
36	Biola UniversityLa Mirada · private nonprofit	$42,882	Not reported	$24,906	58%
37	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$41,631	$78,283	$13,000	31%
38	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$37,153	Not reported	$17,750	48%
39	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$34,482	$96,640	$18,750	54%

California Institute of Technology and Pomona College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every California computer science 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 37 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

California Institute of Technology$173,344
UC Berkeley$149,866
Pomona College$143,084
Stanford University$138,613
USC$137,284

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 computer science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Software Developers

$174,410

Median pay in California. 284,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $105,060Top 10%: $272,670

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$218,290

Median pay in California. 94,720 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $129,970Top 10%: $325,970

Data Scientists

$141,590

Median pay in California. 39,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $77,480Top 10%: $224,920

Information Security Analysts

$138,570

Median pay in California. 15,570 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $66,070Top 10%: $221,000

Common questions

California Institute of Technology in Pasadena reports the highest median first-year pay, $173,344.

Computer Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked331 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 computer science 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