Which California health sciences program has the lowest debt?

Sacramento State reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,449, with first-year pay of $44,162.

How much do health sciences graduates earn in California?

The median across 13 California health sciences bachelor's programs is $40,057 in the first year after graduating and $62,567 five years after.

How many health sciences bachelor's programs are in California?

13 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California health sciences bachelor's program pays its graduates $40,057 in their first year, $5,460 more than the national median. National University reports the highest first-year pay ($55,679), and Sacramento State the lowest median debt ($14,449).

Median first-year pay$40,057National $34,598

Median pay after 5 years$62,567National $56,837

Median federal debt$18,000National $26,674

Debt-to-earnings46%National 75%

All 13 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	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$55,679	$62,690	$29,688	53%
2	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$47,367	$62,443	$18,000	38%
3	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$44,162	$66,096	$14,449	33%
4	Fresno StateFresno · public	$43,134	$55,153	Not reported	Not reported
5	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$42,602	$64,973	$17,000	40%
6	Los Angeles Pacific UniversityGlendora · private nonprofit	$42,012	Not reported	$46,639	111%
7	Chico StateChico · public	$40,057	$56,376	$19,573	49%
8	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$36,494	$53,700	$15,000	41%
9	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$36,383	Not reported	$16,025	44%
10	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$35,624	$62,278	$26,150	73%
11	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$35,563	$58,041	$15,364	43%
12	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$34,053	Not reported	$16,399	48%
13	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$31,550	$67,570	$27,000	86%

Fresno State 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 health sciences 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 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

National University$55,679
San Francisco State$47,367
Sacramento State$44,162
Fresno State$43,134
Cal State East Bay$42,602

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

Health Education Specialists

$63,610

Median pay in California. 12,520 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,020Top 10%: $113,170

Community Health Workers

$58,050

Median pay in California. 9,500 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $46,320Top 10%: $88,590

Common questions

National University in San Diego reports the highest median first-year pay, $55,679. Its median federal debt is $29,688.

Health Sciences (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked146 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 health sciences 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