Which California human resources program has the lowest debt?

Cal State San Bernardino reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,672, with first-year pay of $45,144.

How much do human resources graduates earn in California?

The median across 6 California human resources bachelor's programs is $46,247 in the first year after graduating and $65,915 five years after.

How many human resources bachelor's programs are in California?

6 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Human Resources Management and Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California human resources bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,247 in their first year, $4,136 less than the national median. University of Massachusetts Global reports the highest first-year pay ($65,673), and Cal State San Bernardino the lowest median debt ($12,672).

Median first-year pay$46,247National $50,383

Median pay after 5 years$65,915National $65,232

Median federal debt$19,362National $26,442

Debt-to-earnings35%National 53%

All 6 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	University of Massachusetts GlobalAliso Viejo · public	$65,673	$79,997	$22,979	35%
2	Fresno Pacific UniversityFresno · private nonprofit	$55,616	$70,576	$27,155	49%
3	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$46,453	$65,611	$12,733	27%
4	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$46,041	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$45,144	$54,852	$12,672	28%
6	Fresno StateFresno · public	$43,848	$66,219	$15,745	36%

San Francisco 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 human resources 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Massachusetts Global$65,673
Fresno Pacific University$55,616
Cal State Long Beach$46,453
San Francisco State$46,041
Cal State San Bernardino$45,144

Lowest median debt

Cal State San Bernardino$12,672
Cal State Long Beach$12,733
Fresno State$15,745
University of Massachusetts Global$22,979
Fresno Pacific University$27,155

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

Human Resources Specialists

$83,500

Median pay in California. 104,000 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,770Top 10%: $151,410

Training and Development Specialists

$75,790

Median pay in California. 46,530 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,320Top 10%: $134,270

Compliance Officers

$96,980

Median pay in California. 49,880 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $57,530Top 10%: $158,280

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

$86,500

Median pay in California. 45,140 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $51,890Top 10%: $136,660

Common questions

University of Massachusetts Global in Aliso Viejo reports the highest median first-year pay, $65,673. Its median federal debt is $22,979.

Human Resources (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked151 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 human resources 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