---
title: California State University-Monterey Bay — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Seaside, CA
control: Public
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# California State University-Monterey Bay

Seaside, CA · Public · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $59,247 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $36,050 – $82,407 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $11,000 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $6,250 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 59% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $26,987 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 74% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.19× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $31,247 | derived |

**59% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $11,000 (≈ 19% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $21,242 to $109,260 across 23 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $109,260 | $5,500 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $80,700 | $41,069 |
| Educational/Instructional Media Design. | Master's Degree | $69,186 | $14,540 |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $61,187 | $25,500 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $59,412 | $16,022 |
| Education, General. | Master's Degree | $58,031 | $16,750 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $55,008 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,999 | $13,000 |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $44,151 | $11,000 |
| Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. | Master's Degree | $38,346 | not reported |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,318 | $16,500 |
| Human Services, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,158 | $13,750 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,700 | $19,000 |
| Social Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,594 | $11,000 |
| International/Globalization Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,340 | $14,093 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,259 | $13,322 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,908 | $16,500 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,861 | $11,000 |
| Marine Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,607 | $17,149 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,320 | $12,795 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,319 | $14,895 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,612 | $13,902 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,242 | $15,250 |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore California State University-Monterey Bay by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?409698

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/california-state-university-monterey-bay-ca.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`