Which California liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

Santiago Canyon College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $37,149.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in California?

The median across 25 California liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $27,524 in the first year after graduating and $41,799 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies associate's programs are in California?

25 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 25 of them also report federal debt.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

25 programs report first-year pay
25 also report federal debt
Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $27,524 in their first year, $385 more than the national median. National University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,545), and Santiago Canyon College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$27,524National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$41,799National $40,284

Median federal debt$8,750National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings29%National 38%

All 25 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	$41,545	$63,201	$10,008	24%
2	Santiago Canyon CollegeOrange · public	$37,149	$46,145	$5,500	15%
3	Diablo Valley CollegePleasant Hill · public	$35,813	Not reported	$10,853	30%
4	Los Medanos CollegePittsburg · public	$35,283	$50,777	$9,500	27%
5	Los Angeles Southwest CollegeLos Angeles · public	$32,770	$38,483	$13,870	42%
6	San Joaquin Delta CollegeStockton · public	$32,492	$45,161	$6,382	20%
7	College of the DesertPalm Desert · public	$30,417	$36,361	$6,500	21%
8	Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana · public	$30,117	$42,105	$6,800	23%
9	East Los Angeles CollegeMonterey Park · public	$29,831	Not reported	$6,685	22%
10	College of the CanyonsSanta Clarita · public	$29,397	$46,398	$7,750	26%
11	Contra Costa CollegeSan Pablo · public	$28,983	Not reported	$11,079	38%
12	Modesto Junior CollegeModesto · public	$28,387	$46,582	$7,373	26%
13	Riverside City CollegeRiverside · public	$27,524	$36,916	$9,317	34%
14	West Valley CollegeSaratoga · public	$26,161	$46,590	$14,308	55%
15	San Diego City CollegeSan Diego · public	$25,639	$34,678	$8,933	35%
16	Orange Coast CollegeCosta Mesa · public	$24,128	$44,010	$6,955	29%
17	Moreno Valley CollegeMoreno Valley · public	$24,046	$40,941	$11,167	46%
18	Mt San Jacinto Community College DistrictSan Jacinto · public	$23,923	Not reported	$6,600	28%
19	College of the SequoiasVisalia · public	$23,856	$37,955	$5,500	23%
20	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga · public	$23,307	$37,050	$9,500	41%
21	Lemoore CollegeLemoore · public	$22,918	$38,377	$9,000	39%
22	Hartnell CollegeSalinas · public	$22,681	$47,535	$5,500	24%
23	Cerritos CollegeNorwalk · public	$18,208	$38,638	$9,750	54%
24	Victor Valley CollegeVictorville · public	$17,383	$38,344	$9,469	54%
25	Saddleback CollegeMission Viejo · public	$16,740	$50,975	$5,914	35%

12 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California liberal arts and general studies 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 25 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.

Common questions

National University in San Diego reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,545. Its median federal debt is $10,008.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked728 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in California, ranked34 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Certificate) programs in California, ranked20 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 liberal arts and general studies associate'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