Which California dance program has the lowest debt?

USC reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,875, with first-year pay of $25,653.

How much do dance graduates earn in California?

The median across 7 California dance bachelor's programs is $24,087 in the first year after graduating and $33,077 five years after.

How many dance bachelor's programs are in California?

7 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Dance

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California dance bachelor's program pays its graduates $24,087 in their first year, $2,209 more than the national median. Cal State Long Beach reports the highest first-year pay ($30,686), and USC the lowest median debt ($15,875).

Median first-year pay$24,087National $21,879

Median pay after 5 years$33,077National $32,954

Median federal debt$20,500National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings98%National 116%

All 7 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	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$30,686	$27,350	$20,500	67%
2	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$28,112	$32,865	$20,080	71%
3	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$25,653	Not reported	$15,875	62%
4	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$24,087	Not reported	$25,000	104%
5	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$21,275	$33,077	$23,624	111%
6	UCLALos Angeles · public	$19,787	Not reported	$19,309	98%
7	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$19,107	$35,852	$24,250	127%

Debt and first-year pay at every California dance 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 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

USC$15,875
UCLA$19,309
UC Irvine$20,080
Cal State Long Beach$20,500
Chapman University$23,624

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

Choreographers

$75,000

Median pay in California. 410 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $42,990Top 10%: $138,630

Common questions

Cal State Long Beach in Long Beach reports the highest median first-year pay, $30,686. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

Dance (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked62 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 dance 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