Which California experimental psychology program has the lowest debt?

UC Berkeley reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,111, with first-year pay of $34,450.

How much do experimental psychology graduates earn in California?

The median across 8 California experimental psychology bachelor's programs is $28,789 in the first year after graduating and $62,639 five years after.

How many experimental psychology bachelor's programs are in California?

8 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

8 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Research and Experimental Psychology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California experimental psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $28,789 in their first year, $5,665 less than the national median. UC Berkeley reports the highest first-year pay ($34,450), and UC Berkeley the lowest median debt ($12,111).

Median first-year pay$28,789National $34,454

Median pay after 5 years$62,639National $51,801

Median federal debt$15,500National $21,499

Debt-to-earnings52%National 63%

All 8 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	$34,450	Not reported	$12,111	35%
2	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$34,431	$66,321	$15,000	44%
3	UC DavisDavis · public	$32,301	$62,401	$13,219	41%
4	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$29,830	$62,639	$13,000	44%
5	UCLALos Angeles · public	$27,748	$78,384	$16,737	60%
6	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$26,697	$57,240	$16,750	63%
7	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$25,654	Not reported	$18,500	72%
8	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$23,420	$70,223	$15,500	66%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every California experimental 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UC Berkeley$34,450
UC Santa Barbara$34,431
UC Davis$32,301
UC Irvine$29,830
UCLA$27,748

Lowest median debt

UC Berkeley$12,111
UC Irvine$13,000
UC Davis$13,219
UC Santa Barbara$15,000
UC San Diego$15,500

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

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$65,200

Median pay in California. 60,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,360Top 10%: $103,050

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$136,990

Median pay in California. 29,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,320Top 10%: $180,060

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$116,000

Median pay in California. 12,840 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $62,900Top 10%: $188,050

Social Science Research Assistants

$60,250

Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,060Top 10%: $117,070

Common questions

UC Berkeley in Berkeley reports the highest median first-year pay, $34,450. Its median federal debt is $12,111.

Experimental Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked85 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 experimental 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