Which California music program has the lowest debt?

Cal State LA reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,500, with first-year pay of $21,509.

How much do music graduates earn in California?

The median across 24 California music bachelor's programs is $21,551 in the first year after graduating and $37,022 five years after.

How many music bachelor's programs are in California?

24 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 23 of them also report federal debt.

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

24 programs report first-year pay
23 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Music

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California music bachelor's program pays its graduates $21,551 in their first year, $3,982 less than the national median. San Francisco State reports the highest first-year pay ($31,621), and Cal State LA the lowest median debt ($12,500).

Median first-year pay$21,551National $25,532

Median pay after 5 years$37,022National $40,860

Median federal debt$22,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings90%National 92%

All 24 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	$31,621	$30,461	$15,000	47%
2	The Master's UniversitySanta Clarita · private nonprofit	$31,340	Not reported	$25,334	81%
3	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside · public	$28,009	Not reported	$18,920	68%
4	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$27,724	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	San Francisco Conservatory of MusicSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$26,916	$27,321	$27,000	100%
6	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$25,391	$32,255	$16,500	65%
7	Chico StateChico · public	$25,339	$39,537	$24,125	95%
8	UC DavisDavis · public	$24,630	$40,840	$17,500	71%
9	Los Angeles College of MusicPasadena · private for-profit	$24,059	Not reported	$37,296	155%
10	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$23,969	$26,392	$20,469	85%
11	UCLALos Angeles · public	$22,125	$50,858	$23,119	104%
12	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$21,592	$44,134	$18,938	88%
13	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$21,509	Not reported	$12,500	58%
14	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$20,887	$48,450	$18,000	86%
15	California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks · private nonprofit	$20,650	Not reported	$25,980	126%
16	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$20,440	$34,258	$15,131	74%
17	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$20,408	Not reported	$26,651	131%
18	Biola UniversityLa Mirada · private nonprofit	$19,978	Not reported	$26,417	132%
19	California Institute of the ArtsValencia · private nonprofit	$18,896	$32,376	$23,125	122%
20	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$18,352	Not reported	$20,550	112%
21	CSUNNorthridge · public	$18,226	$35,153	$15,933	87%
22	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$14,538	$44,976	$27,000	186%
23	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$14,166	Not reported	$12,800	90%
24	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$12,947	$24,763	$20,976	162%

Cal State San Bernardino reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California music 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 23 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

San Francisco State$31,621
The Master's University$31,340
Cal State Monterey Bay$28,009
Cal State San Bernardino$27,724
San Francisco Conservatory of Music$26,916

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

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$101,370

Median pay in California. 99,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $64,600Top 10%: $132,600

Sound Engineering Technicians

$78,150

Median pay in California. 4,060 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $45,720Top 10%: $143,130

Music Directors and Composers

$93,090

Median pay in California. 2,510 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $48,600Top 10%: $175,670

Common questions

San Francisco State in San Francisco reports the highest median first-year pay, $31,621. Its median federal debt is $15,000.

Music (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked229 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 music 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