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 $31,050.

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

The median across 20 California liberal arts and general studies certificate programs is $27,284 in the first year after graduating and $45,520 five years after.

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

Q: How many liberal arts and general studies certificate programs are in California?

20 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 20 of them also report federal debt.

20 programs report first-year pay
20 also report federal debt
Certificate 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 certificate program pays its graduates $27,284 in their first year, $130 more than the national median. East Los Angeles College reports the highest first-year pay ($33,628), and Santiago Canyon College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$27,284National $27,154

Median pay after 5 years$45,520National $43,480

Median federal debt$7,456National $9,375

Debt-to-earnings28%National 35%

All 20 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	East Los Angeles CollegeMonterey Park · public	$33,628	$51,063	$5,701	17%
2	San Diego Mesa CollegeSan Diego · public	$33,015	$51,171	$6,125	19%
3	San Diego City CollegeSan Diego · public	$32,438	$39,553	$7,935	24%
4	San Diego Miramar CollegeSan Diego · public	$31,804	$51,867	$6,500	20%
5	Santiago Canyon CollegeOrange · public	$31,050	$45,862	$5,500	18%
6	Los Medanos CollegePittsburg · public	$29,879	Not reported	$9,500	32%
7	College of the CanyonsSanta Clarita · public	$28,886	$49,535	$7,750	27%
8	Gavilan CollegeGilroy · public	$28,543	Not reported	$5,939	21%
9	Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana · public	$27,782	$44,810	$7,227	26%
10	Merced CollegeMerced · public	$27,413	$35,817	$9,300	34%
11	Cabrillo CollegeAptos · public	$27,154	$42,486	$7,412	27%
12	Modesto Junior CollegeModesto · public	$25,984	$49,123	$7,065	27%
13	Lemoore CollegeLemoore · public	$25,061	$41,990	$9,500	38%
14	Chaffey CollegeRancho Cucamonga · public	$23,532	Not reported	$6,625	28%
15	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga · public	$23,409	$39,212	$9,331	40%
16	Diablo Valley CollegePleasant Hill · public	$22,823	Not reported	$7,500	33%
17	Victor Valley CollegeVictorville · public	$21,383	Not reported	$7,550	35%
18	Shasta CollegeRedding · public	$20,031	$43,333	$9,500	47%
19	Saddleback CollegeMission Viejo · public	$19,673	Not reported	$5,500	28%
20	Hartnell CollegeSalinas · public	$19,671	$42,771	$6,500	33%

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 20 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

East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $33,628. Its median federal debt is $5,701.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked65 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 (Associate's) programs in California, ranked25 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 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

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