Which California political science program has the lowest debt?

Cal State Dominguez Hills reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,268, with first-year pay of $25,837.

How much do political science graduates earn in California?

The median across 44 California political science bachelor's programs is $35,211 in the first year after graduating and $67,807 five years after.

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

44 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 42 of them also report federal debt.

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

44 programs report first-year pay
42 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Political Science and Government

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California political science bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,211 in their first year, $274 less than the national median. Stanford University reports the highest first-year pay ($59,297), and Cal State Dominguez Hills the lowest median debt ($10,268).

Median first-year pay$35,211National $35,484

Median pay after 5 years$67,807National $61,481

Median federal debt$17,068National $23,500

Debt-to-earnings50%National 65%

All 44 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	Stanford UniversityStanford · private nonprofit	$59,297	$73,221	$12,000	20%
2	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$57,111	$73,668	$21,750	38%
3	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$45,418	$78,026	$13,000	29%
4	Saint Mary's College of CaliforniaMoraga · private nonprofit	$45,296	$67,807	$25,967	57%
5	Occidental CollegeLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$45,175	$57,825	$25,700	57%
6	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$43,547	Not reported	$16,956	39%
7	Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont · private nonprofit	$42,552	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Pepperdine UniversityMalibu · private nonprofit	$42,306	$81,421	$23,625	56%
9	Chico StateChico · public	$41,893	$62,565	$20,423	49%
10	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$40,460	$77,086	$19,544	48%
11	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$40,056	$69,079	$23,000	57%
12	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$39,404	$73,638	$16,485	42%
13	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$38,063	$78,005	$12,869	34%
14	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$38,060	$70,987	$17,068	45%
15	University of RedlandsRedlands · private nonprofit	$37,091	Not reported	$26,000	70%
16	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$37,003	$90,264	$17,665	48%
17	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$36,502	$72,521	$17,000	47%
18	UC DavisDavis · public	$36,208	$65,407	$14,250	39%
19	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$36,189	$66,718	$16,084	44%
20	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$36,079	$54,461	$19,159	53%
21	California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks · private nonprofit	$36,061	$57,657	$21,125	59%
22	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$35,297	$53,339	$19,485	55%
23	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$35,124	$76,190	$20,741	59%
24	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$34,799	$58,270	$15,000	43%
25	UCLALos Angeles · public	$34,392	$75,578	$15,000	44%
26	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$33,345	$69,947	$16,030	48%
27	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$33,040	$71,534	$26,000	79%
28	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$32,168	$59,758	$14,928	46%
29	CSUNNorthridge · public	$32,014	$56,503	$14,202	44%
30	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$31,976	$69,342	$16,293	51%
31	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$31,882	$63,776	$16,782	53%
32	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$31,711	$62,338	$15,000	47%
33	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$31,033	$73,765	$22,146	71%
34	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$30,291	$57,032	$17,045	56%
35	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$30,060	$59,096	$18,300	61%
36	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$29,818	$55,331	$10,614	36%
37	Whittier CollegeWhittier · private nonprofit	$29,616	$63,587	Not reported	Not reported
38	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$29,533	$58,906	$15,484	52%
39	UC MercedMerced · public	$29,153	$59,111	$17,500	60%
40	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$28,119	$55,117	$15,000	53%
41	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$27,624	$53,379	$26,400	96%
42	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$25,837	$71,822	$10,268	40%
43	University of La VerneLa Verne · private nonprofit	$21,881	$71,471	$22,000	101%
44	Fresno StateFresno · public	$21,674	$52,154	$14,528	67%

Claremont McKenna College and Whittier College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California political 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 42 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Stanford University$59,297
Santa Clara University$57,111
UC Berkeley$45,418
Saint Mary's College of California$45,296
Occidental College$45,175

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 political science, 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

Social Science Research Assistants

$60,250

Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,060Top 10%: $117,070

Economists

$119,410

Median pay in California. 860 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $74,030Top 10%: $207,380

Political Scientists

$142,080

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Stanford University in Stanford reports the highest median first-year pay, $59,297. Its median federal debt is $12,000.

Political Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked504 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 political 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