Which California journalism program has the lowest debt?

San Diego State reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,998, with first-year pay of $30,269.

How much do journalism graduates earn in California?

The median across 14 California journalism bachelor's programs is $31,445 in the first year after graduating and $56,697 five years after.

How many journalism bachelor's programs are in California?

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

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

14 programs report first-year pay
13 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Journalism

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California journalism bachelor's program pays its graduates $31,445 in their first year, $3,070 less than the national median. Cal Poly SLO reports the highest first-year pay ($48,637), and San Diego State the lowest median debt ($14,998).

Median first-year pay$31,445National $34,515

Median pay after 5 years$56,697National $53,282

Median federal debt$18,750National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings53%National 67%

All 14 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 SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$48,637	$67,804	$19,333	40%
2	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$44,651	$73,113	$16,250	36%
3	Pepperdine UniversityMalibu · private nonprofit	$42,536	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Biola UniversityLa Mirada · private nonprofit	$41,997	$37,551	$27,000	64%
5	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$41,645	$69,171	$22,500	54%
6	Chico StateChico · public	$35,668	$56,247	$18,750	53%
7	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$31,788	$65,760	$16,875	53%
8	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$31,102	Not reported	$16,900	54%
9	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$30,644	$56,697	$20,000	65%
10	CSUNNorthridge · public	$30,564	$53,354	$15,480	51%
11	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$30,269	Not reported	$14,998	50%
12	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$29,686	$36,866	$22,300	75%
13	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$28,844	$54,294	$15,000	52%
14	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$26,026	Not reported	$26,869	103%

Pepperdine University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every California journalism 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 13 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Cal Poly SLO$48,637
USC$44,651
Pepperdine University$42,536
Biola University$41,997
Chapman University$41,645

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

Editors

$98,030

Median pay in California. 14,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $52,510Top 10%: $173,590

Photographers

$47,840

Median pay in California. 7,980 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,470Top 10%: $125,490

Writers and Authors

$86,480

Median pay in California. 8,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $56,730Top 10%: $193,080

News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists

$62,200

Median pay nationwide. 4,140 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Common questions

Cal Poly SLO in San Luis Obispo reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,637. Its median federal debt is $19,333.

Journalism (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked170 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 journalism 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