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

# California State University-Northridge

Northridge, 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 | $59,115 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $34,394 – $85,290 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $12,000 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $8,235 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 57% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $20,485 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 74% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.20× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $31,115 | derived |

**57% 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 $12,000 (≈ 20% 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 $17,822 to $89,831 across 77 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $89,831 | $15,041 |
| Manufacturing Engineering. | Master's Degree | $87,158 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $83,455 | $34,195 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $83,281 | $18,875 |
| Civil Engineering. | Master's Degree | $82,290 | not reported |
| Construction Engineering Technology/Technician. | Bachelor's Degree | $79,863 | not reported |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $78,180 | $38,464 |
| Taxation. | Master's Degree | $72,745 | $41,000 |
| Public Administration. | Master's Degree | $70,792 | $37,074 |
| Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology. | Master's Degree | $70,782 | $41,000 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $68,859 | $16,382 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $68,695 | $20,500 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $68,476 | not reported |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $67,866 | $67,919 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $66,726 | $27,404 |
| Public Administration. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,244 | $36,442 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,782 | $16,250 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,759 | $17,000 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,319 | $18,346 |
| Special Education and Teaching. | Master's Degree | $60,353 | not reported |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $58,795 | $15,007 |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $56,213 | $19,834 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $54,893 | $21,125 |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $54,216 | $32,228 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $54,120 | $18,000 |
| Student Counseling and Personnel Services. | Master's Degree | $53,163 | $38,894 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $52,438 | $33,256 |
| Operations Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,988 | $15,998 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,355 | not reported |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,014 | $11,000 |
| Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General. | Master's Degree | $44,844 | not reported |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,894 | $12,500 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Master's Degree | $42,489 | $31,023 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Master's Degree | $42,262 | $29,084 |
| Geography and Cartography. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,876 | $12,500 |
| Education, Other. | Master's Degree | $41,426 | $32,568 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Master's Degree | $41,143 | not reported |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | Master's Degree | $40,937 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,741 | $12,500 |
| Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language. | Master's Degree | $40,094 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,961 | $14,175 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,737 | $14,250 |
| Marketing. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,432 | $13,350 |
| Biotechnology. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,089 | $20,618 |
| Real Estate. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,547 | not reported |
| Public Health. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,066 | $13,744 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,193 | $13,999 |
| Urban Studies/Affairs. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,144 | $11,987 |
| Social Work. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,688 | $12,449 |
| Music. | Master's Degree | $32,317 | $41,000 |
| Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,949 | $16,375 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,771 | not reported |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,432 | $15,000 |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,393 | $11,000 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,883 | $12,500 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,583 | not reported |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,435 | not reported |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,216 | $14,255 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,828 | $14,000 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,064 | $16,840 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,865 | $15,000 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,524 | $12,712 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,473 | $18,250 |
| Journalism. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,428 | $14,311 |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,118 | $19,349 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,612 | $14,865 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,249 | $15,000 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,896 | $14,244 |
| Religion/Religious Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,606 | not reported |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,598 | $14,042 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,145 | $15,924 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,685 | $15,000 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,535 | $15,823 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,412 | $15,201 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $18,635 | $20,335 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $18,432 | not reported |
| Music. | Bachelor's Degree | $17,822 | $15,000 |

## 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-Northridge by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?110608

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