Which California microbiology program has the lowest debt?

CSUN reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,500, with first-year pay of $46,489.

How much do microbiology graduates earn in California?

The median across 13 California microbiology bachelor's programs is $46,005 in the first year after graduating and $75,097 five years after.

How many microbiology bachelor's programs are in California?

13 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Microbiological Sciences and Immunology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California microbiology bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,005 in their first year, $7,279 more than the national median. San Francisco State reports the highest first-year pay ($56,071), and CSUN the lowest median debt ($7,500).

Median first-year pay$46,005National $38,726

Median pay after 5 years$75,097National $65,144

Median federal debt$14,904National $21,868

Debt-to-earnings36%National 55%

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	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$56,071	$87,999	$24,120	43%
2	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$55,807	Not reported	$22,138	40%
3	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$50,706	Not reported	$14,308	28%
4	Chico StateChico · public	$49,068	$64,331	$24,572	50%
5	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$48,631	$70,860	Not reported	Not reported
6	CSUNNorthridge · public	$46,489	$72,199	$7,500	16%
7	UC DavisDavis · public	$46,005	$90,315	$11,000	24%
8	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$45,360	Not reported	$15,500	34%
9	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$43,608	Not reported	$13,811	32%
10	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$43,086	Not reported	$14,121	33%
11	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$42,634	Not reported	$16,500	39%
12	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$39,266	Not reported	$19,334	49%
13	UCLALos Angeles · public	$36,403	$77,994	$14,000	38%

Cal State Long Beach reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every California microbiology 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 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

San Francisco State$56,071
Cal Poly SLO$55,807
UC Berkeley$50,706
Chico State$49,068
Cal State Long Beach$48,631

Lowest median debt

CSUN$7,500
UC Davis$11,000
UC San Diego$13,811
UCLA$14,000
UC Riverside$14,121

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

Medical and Health Services Managers

$141,480

Median pay in California. 75,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $72,800Top 10%: $274,660

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$136,990

Median pay in California. 29,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,320Top 10%: $180,060

Natural Sciences Managers

$210,230

Median pay in California. 14,950 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $130,730Top 10%: $330,050

Biological Technicians

$71,440

Median pay in California. 9,210 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,700Top 10%: $121,670

Common questions

San Francisco State in San Francisco reports the highest median first-year pay, $56,071. Its median federal debt is $24,120.

Microbiology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked55 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 microbiology 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