Which California psychology program has the lowest debt?

College of the Desert reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $25,792.

How much do psychology graduates earn in California?

The median across 10 California psychology associate's programs is $25,343 in the first year after graduating and $37,731 five years after.

How many psychology associate's programs are in California?

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

Psychology (Associate's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

10 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Associate's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California psychology associate's program pays its graduates $25,343 in their first year, $886 less than the national median. Merced College reports the highest first-year pay ($34,441), and College of the Desert the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$25,343National $26,229

Median pay after 5 years$37,731National $37,024

Median federal debt$7,387National $11,099

Debt-to-earnings29%National 36%

All 10 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	Merced CollegeMerced · public	$34,441	$32,072	$6,849	20%
2	Fresno City CollegeFresno · public	$27,421	$34,638	$7,802	28%
3	San Diego Mesa CollegeSan Diego · public	$26,229	$42,029	$7,597	29%
4	Modesto Junior CollegeModesto · public	$25,832	$37,763	$6,757	26%
5	College of the DesertPalm Desert · public	$25,792	$30,561	$5,500	21%
6	Pasadena City CollegePasadena · public	$24,894	$41,258	$12,000	48%
7	Lemoore CollegeLemoore · public	$24,719	$30,968	$8,000	32%
8	College of the SequoiasVisalia · public	$23,008	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut · public	$16,894	$30,700	$5,500	33%
10	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga · public	$16,139	Not reported	$8,000	50%

College of the Sequoias reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 7 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$116,000

Median pay in California. 12,840 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $62,900Top 10%: $188,050

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

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Merced College in Merced reports the highest median first-year pay, $34,441. Its median federal debt is $6,849.

Psychology (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked33 programs by pay and debt Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in California, ranked54 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 psychology associate'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