Which California mechanical engineering program has the lowest debt?

Cal State LA reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,000, with first-year pay of $55,405.

How much do mechanical engineering graduates earn in California?

The median across 26 California mechanical engineering bachelor's programs is $72,436 in the first year after graduating and $99,752 five years after.

How many mechanical engineering bachelor's programs are in California?

26 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 26 of them also report federal debt.

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

26 programs report first-year pay
26 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California mechanical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $72,436 in their first year, $1,711 more than the national median. Cal Poly Maritime Academy reports the highest first-year pay ($92,315), and Cal State LA the lowest median debt ($13,000).

Median first-year pay$72,436National $70,725

Median pay after 5 years$99,752National $91,554

Median federal debt$19,220National $24,730

Debt-to-earnings27%National 35%

All 26 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 Maritime AcademyVallejo · public	$92,315	$114,735	$19,690	21%
2	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$88,497	$112,325	$13,200	15%
3	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$83,356	$107,591	$17,500	21%
4	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$83,011	$110,675	$20,500	25%
5	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$81,865	$118,350	$19,500	24%
6	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$81,108	$100,669	$15,908	20%
7	UCLALos Angeles · public	$79,016	$108,947	$17,000	22%
8	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$77,962	$97,127	$26,093	33%
9	University of the PacificStockton · private nonprofit	$76,785	$105,548	$28,596	37%
10	UC DavisDavis · public	$75,231	$99,885	$15,000	20%
11	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$75,040	$101,659	$17,455	23%
12	Chico StateChico · public	$73,297	$102,703	$24,354	33%
13	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$72,647	$99,619	$22,047	30%
14	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$72,224	$92,844	$27,000	37%
15	CSUNNorthridge · public	$71,359	$100,421	$18,000	25%
16	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$69,754	$99,279	$19,994	29%
17	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$69,555	$99,554	$20,000	29%
18	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$67,633	$95,534	$14,500	21%
19	UC MercedMerced · public	$67,096	$85,156	$18,500	28%
20	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$66,462	$91,357	$19,399	29%
21	Fresno StateFresno · public	$65,938	$97,316	$17,533	27%
22	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$65,252	$93,073	$19,040	29%
23	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$62,554	$93,294	$21,000	34%
24	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$60,996	$97,895	$17,653	29%
25	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$60,798	$92,031	$21,000	35%
26	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$55,405	$94,122	$13,000	23%

Debt and first-year pay at every California mechanical engineering 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 26 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Cal State LA$13,000
UC Berkeley$13,200
UC Irvine$14,500
UC Davis$15,000
UC Santa Barbara$15,908

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

Mechanical Engineers

$130,900

Median pay in California. 30,530 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $82,070Top 10%: $203,620

Cost Estimators

$85,460

Median pay in California. 26,020 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $51,750Top 10%: $150,790

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$210,280

Median pay in California. 29,630 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $137,900Top 10%: $296,130

Aerospace Engineers

$157,620

Median pay in California. 9,170 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $104,370Top 10%: $220,670

Common questions

Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo reports the highest median first-year pay, $92,315. Its median federal debt is $19,690.

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked302 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 mechanical engineering 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