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California Degrees Rank Among Nation’s Highest Earners, Yet Cost Concerns Persist
By Drooid · · How we work
Lucrative California Degrees Highlighted
A recent analysis by higher-education research firm the HEA Group identified several undergraduate majors at California schools as among the nation’s top-earning degrees. Graduates with a Computer Engineering degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) posted a median income of $228,705, ranking the program sixth-most lucrative in the United States. At Pomona College in Claremont, Computer Science majors earned a median salary of $217,051. Outside of technology, nursing graduates from California State University, East Bay, San Francisco State University, and Samuel Merritt University each reported median earnings of roughly $150,000. The HEA Group’s study examined salaries of students who received federal financial aid and graduated during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years.
Tuition Costs and Return on Investment
UCLA’s annual cost for California residents is about $45,500, rising to $87,770 for non-residents when housing, transportation, food, and books are included. Pomona College’s tuition exceeds $90,000 per year. Despite these price tags, the median earnings for the highlighted majors suggest a strong return on investment for graduates who secure positions in high-paying sectors.
Broader Earnings Landscape
The HEA Group’s ranking placed Duke University’s Mathematics graduates at the top with a median salary of $297,029, while Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley Computer Science alumni earned median incomes of $214,907 and $204,379, respectively. Although Bay Area institutions did not appear in the top ten, they remained close to the upper tier of earners.
Student Perceptions of College Value
A 2024 survey of 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students revealed mixed feelings about the cost of higher education. Only 33 % of respondents said college delivers value for its expense, while 29 % felt it does not. The findings suggest that, even as certain degrees promise high post-graduation salaries, a sizable portion of students remain skeptical about the overall affordability and worth of a college education.