Which California electrical engineering program has the lowest debt?

UC Berkeley reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,437, with first-year pay of $137,295.

How much do electrical engineering graduates earn in California?

The median across 21 California electrical engineering bachelor's programs is $78,247 in the first year after graduating and $106,684 five years after.

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

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

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

21 programs report first-year pay
19 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California electrical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $78,247 in their first year, $319 more than the national median. UC Berkeley reports the highest first-year pay ($137,295), and UC Berkeley the lowest median debt ($14,437).

Median first-year pay$78,247National $77,928

Median pay after 5 years$106,684National $99,155

Median federal debt$18,906National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings24%National 32%

All 21 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	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$137,295	$240,462	$14,437	11%
2	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$93,417	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$90,576	$116,692	$24,449	27%
4	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$89,684	$123,215	$20,500	23%
5	UCLALos Angeles · public	$85,369	$127,528	$17,877	21%
6	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$80,827	$106,684	$18,812	23%
7	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$80,687	$120,436	$20,342	25%
8	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$80,412	$103,261	$19,000	24%
9	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$80,073	$118,396	$29,276	37%
10	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$78,842	$124,740	$17,048	22%
11	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$78,247	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
12	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$77,278	$101,607	$19,750	26%
13	CSUNNorthridge · public	$75,207	$103,360	$17,440	23%
14	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$75,061	$100,171	$18,165	24%
15	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$74,450	$106,616	$19,430	26%
16	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$67,345	$99,534	$16,125	24%
17	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$66,430	$102,568	$19,954	30%
18	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$63,981	$96,348	$14,676	23%
19	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$63,468	$95,011	$15,054	24%
20	Fresno StateFresno · public	$59,672	$106,377	$25,875	43%
21	Southern California Institute of TechnologyAnaheim · private for-profit	$59,259	$71,932	$35,989	61%

National University and Sonoma State report pay but not debt, so they are 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 electrical 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

UC Berkeley$137,295
National University$93,417
Cal Poly SLO$90,576
USC$89,684
UCLA$85,369

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

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

Electrical Engineers

$144,040

Median pay in California. 24,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,840Top 10%: $217,760

Electronics Engineers, Except Computer

$160,520

Median pay in California. 20,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $97,140Top 10%: $225,400

Computer Hardware Engineers

$185,180

Median pay in California. 19,820 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $126,590Top 10%: $281,210

Common questions

UC Berkeley in Berkeley reports the highest median first-year pay, $137,295. Its median federal debt is $14,437.

Electrical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked247 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 electrical 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