California State University-San Marcos
San Marcos, California · Public
Graduate earnings
34of 36 assessed undergraduate programs
have graduates earning more than a typical California high-school graduate (about $36,976 a year). 2 fall short.
36 of 47 undergraduate programs could be assessed. The other 11 have no earnings published. 5 verdicts use 1-year earnings, an earlier career stage. The 37 graduate programs are in the table.
Average net price, all families$10,229 a year By family income
What it would cost
Net price is the yearly cost after grants and scholarships, as reported for students who received federal aid.
Average for all families
$10,229 a year
About $40,916 over 4 years, if price and aid stay the same.
This multiplies the reported yearly net price by the years you choose. It is not a quote or a prediction: it leaves out interest, price rises and the chance of taking longer to finish.
Net price for every income band
| Family income | Net price per year |
|---|---|
| Under $30k | $6,230 |
| $30k to $48k | $7,240 |
| $48k to $75k | $8,928 |
| $75k to $110k | $12,525 |
| $110k and up | $18,734 |
| All families (average) | $10,229 |
College Scorecard, release 2026-06-10. Bands with no figure were not reported by the school.
Program earnings
Median earnings of each program’s graduates against a typical California high-school graduate ($36,976 a year).
43 of 84 programs could be assessed 51% have an earnings verdict
| Program | Degree | Median earnings | vs a high-school grad | Verdict | Median debt | Debt as years of gain | Recent completers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Administration | Bachelor's Degree | $70,900 | +$33,924 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.6 yrs | 471 |
| Psychology | Bachelor's Degree | $55,196 | +$18,220 | clears the bar | $17,750 | 1.0 yrs | 315 |
| Sociology | Bachelor's Degree | $53,287 | +$16,311 | clears the bar | $15,000 | 0.9 yrs | 295 |
| Nursing | Bachelor's Degree | $120,196 | +$83,220 | clears the bar | $24,246 | 0.3 yrs | 278 |
| Criminology | Bachelor's Degree | $55,418 | +$18,442 | clears the bar | $14,810 | 0.8 yrs | 234 |
| Communications and Media | Bachelor's Degree | $59,842 | +$22,866 | clears the bar | $14,545 | 0.6 yrs | 201 |
| Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $70,789 | +$33,813 | clears the bar | $23,750 | 0.7 yrs | 188 |
| Kinesiology and Physical Education | Bachelor's Degree | $61,252 | +$24,276 | clears the bar | $17,500 | 0.7 yrs | 164 |
| Human Development and Family Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $53,568 | +$16,592 | clears the bar | $17,362 | 1.0 yrs | 163 |
| Liberal Arts and General Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $58,289 | +$21,313 | clears the bar | $16,226 | 0.8 yrs | 155 |
| Computer Science | Bachelor's Degree | $97,827 | +$60,851 | clears the bar | $12,500 | 0.2 yrs | 152 |
| Teacher Education (by level) | Bachelor's Degree | $51,445 | +$14,469 | clears the bar | $15,000 | 1.0 yrs | 117 |
| Visual and Performing Arts, General | Bachelor's Degree | $48,043 | +$11,067 | clears the bar | $18,625 | 1.7 yrs | 76 |
| English | Bachelor's Degree | $54,985 | +$18,009 | clears the bar | $15,500 | 0.9 yrs | 74 |
| History | Bachelor's Degree | $52,985 | +$16,009 | clears the bar | $16,847 | 1.1 yrs | 73 |
| Social Work | Master's Degree | $77,471 | +$40,495 | above HS line | $41,000 | 1.0 yrs | 69 |
| Political Science | Bachelor's Degree | $50,857 | +$13,881 | clears the bar | $17,666 | 1.3 yrs | 63 |
| Business Administration | Master's Degree | $105,743 | +$68,767 | above HS line | $36,990 | 0.5 yrs | 59 |
| Communication Disorders | Bachelor's Degree | $71,068 | +$34,092 | clears the bar | $15,000 | 0.4 yrs | 58 |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $83,339 | +$46,363 | clears the bar | $18,620 | 0.4 yrs | 52 |
| Natural Resources and Conservation | Bachelor's Degree | $55,903 | +$18,927 | clears the bar | $13,273 | 0.7 yrs | 50 |
| Social Sciences | Bachelor's Degree | $63,622 | +$26,646 | clears the bar | $15,000 | 0.6 yrs | 39 |
| Nursing | Master's Degree | $148,800 | +$111,824 | above HS line | $60,000 | 0.5 yrs | 37 |
| Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $65,479 | +$28,503 | clears the bar | $20,983 | 0.7 yrs | 36 |
| Communication Disorders | Master's Degree | $88,196 | +$51,220 | above HS line | $70,750 | 1.4 yrs | 33 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Bachelor's Degree | $29,3291-year earnings | -$7,647 | falls short (1-yr) | $9,000 | no earnings gain | 23 |
| Anthropology | Bachelor's Degree | $49,848 | +$12,872 | clears the bar | $16,250 | 1.3 yrs | 23 |
| Education | Master's Degree | $95,348 | +$58,372 | above HS line | $20,936 | 0.4 yrs | 21 |
| Biotechnology | Bachelor's Degree | $76,622 | +$39,646 | clears the bar | $16,500 | 0.4 yrs | 21 |
| Physics | Bachelor's Degree | $56,0181-year earnings | +$19,042 | clears the bar (1-yr) | $19,000 | 1.0 yrs | 16 |
| Biotechnology | Master's Degree | $92,859 | +$55,883 | above HS line | not published | not assessed | 14 |
| Chemistry | Bachelor's Degree | $49,3821-year earnings | +$12,406 | clears the bar (1-yr) | not published | not assessed | 11 |
| Educational Administration | Master's Degree | $71,5621-year earnings | +$34,586 | above HS line (1-yr) | $15,100 | 0.4 yrs | 0 |
| Computer Systems Analysis | Bachelor's Degree | $93,047 | +$56,071 | clears the bar | not published | not assessed | not published |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences | Bachelor's Degree | $80,303 | +$43,327 | clears the bar | $19,462 | 0.4 yrs | not published |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences | Bachelor's Degree | $36,8891-year earnings | -$87 | falls short (1-yr) | $15,154 | no earnings gain | not published |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $40,8751-year earnings | +$3,899 | clears the bar (1-yr) | $23,000 | 5.9 yrs | not published |
| Business | Bachelor's Degree | $68,984 | +$32,008 | clears the bar | $20,951 | 0.7 yrs | not published |
| Accounting | Bachelor's Degree | $86,318 | +$49,342 | clears the bar | $20,452 | 0.4 yrs | not published |
| Finance | Bachelor's Degree | $77,312 | +$40,336 | clears the bar | $16,337 | 0.4 yrs | not published |
| International Business | Bachelor's Degree | $77,965 | +$40,989 | clears the bar | $15,965 | 0.4 yrs | not published |
| Management Information Systems | Bachelor's Degree | $72,448 | +$35,472 | clears the bar | $15,000 | 0.4 yrs | not published |
| Marketing | Bachelor's Degree | $73,290 | +$36,314 | clears the bar | $18,000 | 0.5 yrs | not published |
| Public Health | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 67 |
| Computer Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 34 |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 30 |
| Computer Science | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 20 |
| Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 20 |
| Special Education | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 19 |
| IT Administration and Management | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 18 |
| Electrical Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 16 |
| Curriculum and Instruction | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 14 |
| Psychology | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 14 |
| Fire Protection | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 13 |
| Sociology | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 13 |
| Teacher Education (by subject) | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 10 |
| Biology | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 10 |
| Mathematics | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 8 |
| History | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 8 |
| English | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 7 |
| Kinesiology and Physical Education | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 7 |
| Music | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 7 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 6 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 5 |
| International/Globalization Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 5 |
| Theatre | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 5 |
| Interdisciplinary Studies | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 3 |
| Communication Disorders | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 2 |
| Geography and Cartography | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 1 |
| Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Educational Administration | Doctoral Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Educational/Instructional Media Design | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Special Education | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Teacher Education (by level) | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Teacher Education (by subject) | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Chemistry | Master's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Clinical and Counseling Psychology | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| International Relations | Bachelor's Degree | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Health Sciences | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Medical Laboratory Science | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Health/Medical Preparatory Programs | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Nursing | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Accounting | Graduate/Professional Certificate | not published | not assessed | earnings not published | not published | not assessed | 0 |
| Education | First Professional Degree | not reported | not reported | nothing reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Sources and definitions
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, release 2026-06-10. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal aid. Debt is federal loans only.
- The high-school line is ED’s state benchmark, $36,976 a year.
- Earnings not published: ED reports the program but no earnings figure, usually because too few graduates were measured. Nothing reported: ED lists the program with no figures at all. Neither is a judgement of the program.
- Debt as years of gain is median federal debt divided by how much more graduates earn per year than a typical high-school graduate. It is not a repayment time.
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