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

San Diego State reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,496, with first-year pay of $23,190.

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

The median across 34 California liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs is $30,619 in the first year after graduating and $55,458 five years after.

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

34 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 34 of them also report federal debt.

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

34 programs report first-year pay
34 also report federal debt
Bachelor'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 bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,619 in their first year, $5,539 less than the national median. National University reports the highest first-year pay ($57,429), and San Diego State the lowest median debt ($12,496).

Median first-year pay$30,619National $36,157

Median pay after 5 years$55,458National $48,575

Median federal debt$16,468National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings55%National 73%

All 34 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	$57,429	Not reported	$35,426	62%
2	Saint Mary's College of CaliforniaMoraga · private nonprofit	$56,094	$63,470	$27,000	48%
3	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$39,758	$58,913	$16,500	42%
4	Los Angeles Pacific UniversityGlendora · private nonprofit	$37,985	Not reported	$33,893	89%
5	University of Massachusetts GlobalAliso Viejo · public	$36,875	$59,101	$27,608	75%
6	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$36,509	$58,970	$15,944	44%
7	Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa · private nonprofit	$35,194	$59,335	$25,000	71%
8	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$35,056	$64,390	$17,500	50%
9	California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks · private nonprofit	$34,989	$59,025	$21,897	63%
10	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$33,793	$55,626	$28,587	85%
11	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$33,588	$42,981	$15,453	46%
12	Thomas Aquinas CollegeSanta Paula · private nonprofit	$33,432	$49,029	$18,000	54%
13	CSUNNorthridge · public	$33,324	$56,781	$15,000	45%
14	Providence Christian CollegePasadena · private nonprofit	$32,598	$37,025	$25,000	77%
15	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$32,112	$61,526	$15,467	48%
16	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$31,802	$52,433	$15,500	49%
17	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$30,824	$47,969	$15,171	49%
18	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside · public	$30,413	$54,702	$13,750	45%
19	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$30,286	$55,823	$15,000	50%
20	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$29,341	$55,289	$15,125	52%
21	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$29,148	$58,883	$13,775	47%
22	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$28,324	$50,286	$18,000	64%
23	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$27,303	$38,082	$16,000	59%
24	Chico StateChico · public	$27,196	$55,139	$17,500	64%
25	University of La VerneLa Verne · private nonprofit	$25,945	$54,973	$23,500	91%
26	Fresno StateFresno · public	$25,349	$54,909	$13,662	54%
27	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$25,168	$49,335	$13,750	55%
28	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$24,979	$55,231	$14,295	57%
29	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$24,706	$52,783	$13,535	55%
30	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$23,203	$61,690	$16,436	71%
31	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$23,190	$58,202	$12,496	54%
32	Concordia University-IrvineIrvine · private nonprofit	$22,652	$47,713	$26,000	115%
33	Soka University of AmericaAliso Viejo · private nonprofit	$19,776	$49,249	$18,750	95%
34	The Master's UniversitySanta Clarita · private nonprofit	$18,621	$47,179	$14,750	79%

4 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 34 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

National University$57,429
Saint Mary's College of California$56,094
Sonoma State$39,758
Los Angeles Pacific University$37,985
University of Massachusetts Global$36,875

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, $57,429. Its median federal debt is $35,426.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked395 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in California, ranked25 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 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