Which California marketing program has the lowest debt?

San Francisco State reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,304, with first-year pay of $52,072.

How much do marketing graduates earn in California?

The median across 13 California marketing bachelor's programs is $44,891 in the first year after graduating and $71,768 five years after.

How many marketing bachelor's programs are in California?

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

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California marketing bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,891 in their first year, $324 more than the national median. Santa Clara University reports the highest first-year pay ($58,493), and San Francisco State the lowest median debt ($12,304).

Median first-year pay$44,891National $44,567

Median pay after 5 years$71,768National $64,125

Median federal debt$19,712National $24,250

Debt-to-earnings38%National 53%

All 13 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	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$58,493	$100,123	$19,712	34%
2	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$56,313	$80,998	$21,375	38%
3	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$52,072	$73,408	$12,304	24%
4	Menlo CollegeAtherton · private nonprofit	$49,788	Not reported	$24,476	49%
5	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$48,281	$82,022	$25,000	52%
6	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$48,229	$79,506	$15,000	31%
7	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$44,891	$91,873	$21,500	48%
8	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$43,134	$75,915	$19,032	44%
9	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$41,108	$65,667	$27,000	66%
10	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$40,976	$62,561	$14,087	34%
11	Fresno StateFresno · public	$37,484	$64,053	$16,797	45%
12	CSUNNorthridge · public	$37,016	$69,084	$14,000	38%
13	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$34,293	$55,467	$13,125	38%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every California marketing 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

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

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$94,700

Median pay in California. 119,070 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,440Top 10%: $181,600

Sales Managers

$134,910

Median pay in California. 112,440 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $64,430Top 10%: $300,580

Marketing Managers

$193,620

Median pay in California. 54,660 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 34,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $104,370Top 10%: $326,400

Web and Digital Interface Designers

$136,110

Median pay in California. 27,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $68,090Top 10%: $219,750

Common questions

Santa Clara University in Santa Clara reports the highest median first-year pay, $58,493. Its median federal debt is $19,712.

Marketing (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked471 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 marketing 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