Which California nutrition science program has the lowest debt?

Fresno State reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,375, with first-year pay of $23,211.

How much do nutrition science graduates earn in California?

The median across 9 California nutrition science bachelor's programs is $31,096 in the first year after graduating and $71,623 five years after.

How many nutrition science bachelor's programs are in California?

9 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

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

9 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Nutrition Sciences

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California nutrition science bachelor's program pays its graduates $31,096 in their first year, $238 more than the national median. UC Berkeley reports the highest first-year pay ($35,161), and Fresno State the lowest median debt ($11,375).

Median first-year pay$31,096National $30,858

Median pay after 5 years$71,623National $57,314

Median federal debt$17,137National $23,563

Debt-to-earnings50%National 75%

All 9 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	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$35,161	$77,253	$16,182	46%
2	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$34,878	Not reported	$18,000	52%
3	UC DavisDavis · public	$34,512	$65,993	$14,166	41%
4	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$34,384	Not reported	$17,250	50%
5	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$31,096	Not reported	$14,493	47%
6	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$30,620	Not reported	$17,137	56%
7	Chico StateChico · public	$25,490	Not reported	$19,272	76%
8	Fresno StateFresno · public	$23,211	Not reported	$11,375	49%
9	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$22,675	Not reported	$17,620	78%

Debt and first-year pay at every California nutrition science 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 9 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 nutrition science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

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

Dietitians and Nutritionists

$98,850

Median pay in California. 8,720 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $72,780Top 10%: $130,850

Dietetic Technicians

$46,410

Median pay in California. 6,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $36,810Top 10%: $64,020

Farm and Home Management Educators

$98,770

Median pay in California. 40 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $56,400Top 10%: $108,770

Common questions

UC Berkeley in Berkeley reports the highest median first-year pay, $35,161. Its median federal debt is $16,182.

Nutrition Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked44 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 nutrition science 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