US College Programs

Information Technology (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Certificate in Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California information technology certificate program pays its graduates $45,517 in their first year, $4,370 more than the national median. Asher College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,168), and Mayfield College the lowest median debt ($9,077).

Median first-year pay$45,517National $41,147
Median pay after 5 years$56,337National $48,195
Median federal debt$9,500National $11,543
Debt-to-earnings23%National 32%

All 5 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.

Debt and first-year pay at every California information technology 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

  1. Asher College$47,168
  2. Southern California Institute of Technology$45,632
  3. Unitek College (Fremont, California)$45,517
  4. MTI College$43,827
  5. Mayfield College$29,122

Lowest median debt

  1. Mayfield College$9,077
  2. Unitek College (Fremont, California)$9,403
  3. MTI College$9,500
  4. Southern California Institute of Technology$10,432
  5. Asher College$12,417

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Unitek College (Fremont, California)21%
  2. MTI College22%
  3. Southern California Institute of Technology23%
  4. Asher College26%
  5. Mayfield College31%

"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 information technology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Project Management Specialists

$120,910

Median pay in California. 114,380 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,180Top 10%: $188,560

Computer User Support Specialists

$79,570

Median pay in California. 74,490 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 39,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: some college, no degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,270Top 10%: $122,750

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$218,290

Median pay in California. 94,720 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $129,970Top 10%: $325,970

Network and Computer Systems Administrators

$106,440

Median pay in California. 26,170 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $72,400Top 10%: $166,730

Common questions

Asher College in Sacramento reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,168. Its median federal debt is $12,417.

Related pages

Information Technology (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked32 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 information technology certificate 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024