Which California geology and earth science program has the lowest debt?

Cal Poly SLO reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,000, with first-year pay of $48,489.

How much do geology and earth science graduates earn in California?

The median across 10 California geology and earth science bachelor's programs is $40,078 in the first year after graduating and $72,216 five years after.

How many geology and earth science bachelor's programs are in California?

10 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

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

10 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California geology and earth science bachelor's program pays its graduates $40,078 in their first year, $73 more than the national median. Cal Poly Pomona reports the highest first-year pay ($49,406), and Cal Poly SLO the lowest median debt ($15,000).

Median first-year pay$40,078National $40,005

Median pay after 5 years$72,216National $57,967

Median federal debt$17,896National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings43%National 60%

All 10 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 Poly PomonaPomona · public	$49,406	Not reported	$19,375	39%
2	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$48,489	Not reported	$15,000	31%
3	UC DavisDavis · public	$43,462	$66,050	$16,416	38%
4	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$43,362	$72,711	$20,833	48%
5	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$41,351	Not reported	$21,500	52%
6	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$38,804	$71,246	$15,000	39%
7	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$35,509	$79,103	$15,125	43%
8	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$30,759	$71,720	$21,800	71%
9	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$29,476	$48,634	$20,526	70%
10	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$22,998	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

UC Riverside reports pay but not debt, so it is 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 geology and earth 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 9 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 geology and earth science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Natural Sciences Managers

$210,230

Median pay in California. 14,950 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $130,730Top 10%: $330,050

Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers

$106,500

Median pay in California. 3,350 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,540Top 10%: $171,270

Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians

$69,410

Median pay in California. 480 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,300Top 10%: $164,670

Hydrologists

$122,110

Median pay in California. 540 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $76,110Top 10%: $181,360

Common questions

Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,406. Its median federal debt is $19,375.

Geology and Earth Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked95 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 geology and earth 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