Colleges in California With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 108 four-year colleges we rank in California run from $152,843 at the top to $29,902 at the bottom, a spread of $122,941.
The median college sits at $65,936, which is $6,533 (11%) above the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (51) have a median of $63,753 and private nonprofit colleges (49) a median of $72,581, and the typical net price across the list is $20,555.
California Institute of Technology ranks first at $152,843, ahead of Harvey Mudd College ($137,100) and Stanford University ($136,959).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in California
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; California has 108
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 108 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $152,843 | $16,075 | — | 94% | 987 |
| 2 | Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $137,100 | $35,924 | $25,000 | 93% | 921 |
| 3 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $136,959 | $13,807 | $12,000 | 92% | 7,554 |
| 4 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $110,798 | $28,849 | $13,500 | 93% | 1,388 |
| 5 | Cal Poly Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA Public · 4-year | $108,757 | $20,555 | $24,965 | 63% | 804 |
| 6 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $108,517 | $50,062 | $19,162 | 88% | 6,552 |
| 7 | Career Networks Institute Santa Ana, CA For-profit · 4-year | $99,952 | $49,677 | $25,899 | 83% | 1,133 |
| 8 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 4-year | $96,018 | $13,481 | $13,000 | 93% | 33,068 |
| 9 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $95,739 | $32,740 | $18,000 | 92% | 20,443 |
| 10 | Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $95,437 | $35,333 | $27,000 | 77% | 1,114 |
| 11 | University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $91,483 | $41,431 | $23,000 | 71% | 5,287 |
| 12 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 4-year | $90,662 | $16,665 | $18,500 | 86% | 21,996 |
| 13 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 4-year | $89,614 | $13,760 | $15,000 | 67% | 27,601 |
| 14 | Pacific Union College Angwin, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $88,027 | $41,008 | $27,500 | 55% | 805 |
| 15 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $85,309 | $30,365 | $22,940 | 83% | 5,671 |
| 16 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $84,459 | $58,098 | $23,510 | 84% | 3,553 |
| 17 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 4-year | $83,130 | $12,470 | $15,500 | 87% | 34,948 |
| 18 | Concordia University-Irvine Irvine, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $83,064 | $28,115 | $24,247 | 60% | 1,536 |
| 19 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $81,820 | $25,447 | $19,500 | 68% | 3,204 |
| 20 | National University San Diego, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $81,115 | $22,878 | $25,000 | 42% | 10,794 |
| 21 | Menlo College Atherton, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $79,903 | $31,100 | $21,750 | 52% | 752 |
| 22 | Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $79,546 | $21,413 | $25,949 | 53% | 1,719 |
| 23 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $78,039 | $48,381 | $19,500 | 79% | 7,094 |
| 24 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year | $77,677 | $12,548 | $14,000 | 93% | 33,475 |
| 25 | Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Public · 4-year | $77,599 | — | $9,500 | 44% | 12,082 |
| 26 | Pomona College Claremont, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $77,544 | $19,285 | $11,782 | 93% | 1,666 |
| 27 | University of Redlands Redlands, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $75,863 | $30,031 | $26,000 | 69% | 2,049 |
| 28 | Scripps College Claremont, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $75,301 | $36,294 | $13,500 | 85% | 1,113 |
| 29 | University of Massachusetts Global Aliso Viejo, CA Public · 4-year | $74,838 | $32,654 | $24,276 | — | 4,491 |
| 30 | University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 4-year | $74,438 | $14,251 | $15,000 | 86% | 30,197 |
| 31 | Saint Mary's College of California Moraga, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $74,325 | $30,378 | $23,691 | 70% | 1,947 |
| 32 | Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $74,009 | $48,661 | $31,000 | 81% | 2,017 |
| 33 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $73,336 | $46,555 | $20,500 | 81% | 7,478 |
| 34 | University of California-Davis Davis, CA Public · 4-year | $73,086 | $14,741 | $13,000 | 85% | 32,253 |
| 35 | Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,880 | $38,729 | $22,990 | 76% | 3,188 |
| 36 | California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Public · 4-year | $72,596 | $9,320 | $16,544 | 47% | 9,809 |
| 37 | Casa Loma College-Los Angeles Sherman Oaks, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,581 | $27,596 | $26,791 | 69% | 758 |
| 38 | Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $71,925 | $22,212 | $23,219 | 63% | 2,759 |
| 39 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 4-year | $71,612 | $2,878 | $14,250 | 26% | 6,128 |
| 40 | California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 4-year | $71,138 | $11,531 | $16,000 | 68% | 25,042 |
| 41 | University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 4-year | $70,323 | $16,109 | $13,993 | 84% | 23,113 |
| 42 | Crafton Hills College Yucaipa, CA Public · 4-year | $69,922 | $11,331 | — | 31% | 5,687 |
| 43 | Pitzer College Claremont, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,786 | $34,191 | $16,750 | 83% | 1,227 |
| 44 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,695 | $30,109 | $21,669 | 72% | 2,296 |
| 45 | Los Angeles Pacific University Glendora, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,736 | $22,677 | $18,750 | 29% | 1,483 |
| 46 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,600 | $26,285 | $26,063 | 61% | 8,179 |
| 47 | Occidental College Los Angeles, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,467 | $38,263 | $23,000 | 83% | 1,877 |
| 48 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 4-year | $68,268 | $15,364 | $15,000 | 77% | 35,377 |
| 49 | California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA Public · 4-year | $67,891 | $10,229 | $17,350 | 54% | 14,877 |
| 50 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 4-year | $67,804 | $12,278 | $15,371 | 50% | 18,639 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for California
Cheapest colleges in California
83 schools
Cheap colleges in California for out-of-state students
121 schools
Community colleges in California
87 schools
Best value colleges in California
81 schools
Most affordable private colleges in California
50 schools
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Oregon
19 schools
Highest graduate earnings in New York
124 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Texas
92 schools
All 232 colleges in California See the national version of this ranking