When deciding on a college path, it is important to comprehensively consider not just your major or post-graduation income, but also tuition and loan burdens. This is because graduates from universities in California show up to a 2.7-magnitude difference in earnings even when graduating with the exact same major.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the 1st on the salary status of college graduates by major in California, citing an analysis of federal Department of Education data by higher education analytics firm ‘HEA Group.’ The analysis targeted graduates from the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years who received federal student aid and were employed and not enrolled in school four years after graduation.
Business administration, a representative popular major in California, showed the largest income gap between universities. The median annual income for business graduates was highest at UC Berkeley, at approximately $150,000. This is roughly 2.7 times the figure for CSU San Bernardino ($56,361).
The median annual income for USC business graduates was tallied at $109,128. Among business departments that produced 100 or more graduates over two years, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo ranked second in earnings, and UC Irvine ranked 9th.
While elite private universities like USC, the University of San Diego, and Pepperdine University filled the top 10, the bottom 10 universities were all found to be part of the CSU system. Psychology majors also showed clear disparities by university.
The median annual income for psychology graduates from USC was $70,461, which is more than $24,000 higher than Cal Poly Humboldt (approx. $46,000). Conversely, for nursing majors, CSU system graduates dominated the upper tiers of income.
Experts analyzed that college admissions criteria, career support programs, alumni networks, and the industrial structure and wage levels of the region where the university is located collectively influenced these income gaps. However, post-graduation income rankings did not always align with economic practicality relative to tuition.
According to a comprehensive evaluation by the HEA Group and the College Futures Foundation assessing the ratio of low- and middle-income students and education cost recovery periods, CSU system campuses claimed 9 of the top 10 spots for ‘economic practicality’ in California.
CSU San Bernardino, which had the lowest median income, also made it into the top 10 list. Michael Itzkowitz, founder of the HEA Group, advised, ‘Rather than taking out excessive student loans based solely on post-graduation income levels, students should carefully examine the tuition and loan repayment costs they will actually have to bear.’
