Education Atlas

College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA · Public · Bachelor-granting · 35,377 undergrads · 36% admitted

Do students finish?
76% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?
$27,780/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$111,120 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$64,909 median, 10 yrs after entry
25th pct $39,563 median $64,909 75th pct $94,570

80% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

54 Bachelor's programs · $17,224 to $89,225 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $89,225 $17,375
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician.Bachelor's $79,248 —
Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $73,334 $17,249
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $72,385 $17,999
Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $65,965 $19,499
Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $63,495 $19,832
Computer Science.Bachelor's $62,997 $16,866
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering.Bachelor's $61,870 $23,417
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering.Bachelor's $54,240 $16,997
Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $52,355 $16,375
Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $47,713 $15,000
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $47,197 $15,218
Applied Mathematics.Bachelor's $45,625 $23,793
Marketing.Bachelor's $44,228 $15,000
Hospitality Administration/Management.Bachelor's $43,577 $15,000
Economics.Bachelor's $42,818 $15,250
International Business.Bachelor's $41,595 $13,110
Chemistry.Bachelor's $40,950 $17,999
Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $38,950 $15,000
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $38,297 $21,500
Statistics.Bachelor's $37,895 $13,125
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.Bachelor's $37,838 $16,111
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies.Bachelor's $35,249 $23,080
Public Administration.Bachelor's $34,977 $14,999
Social Work.Bachelor's $34,581 $15,000
Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $34,509 $15,000
Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $34,442 $13,832
Journalism.Bachelor's $33,791 $14,998
Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $33,271 $12,726
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General.Bachelor's $33,248 $26,150
Biology, General.Bachelor's $33,006 $18,010
Mathematics.Bachelor's $32,780 $8,772
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies.Bachelor's $32,608 $14,999
Sociology.Bachelor's $31,838 $12,500
Criminal Justice and Corrections.Bachelor's $31,547 $13,499
Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $30,004 $17,364
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.Bachelor's $28,861 $15,225
International Relations and National Security Studies.Bachelor's $28,674 $15,124
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services.Bachelor's $27,639 —
History.Bachelor's $27,033 $13,881
Social Sciences, General.Bachelor's $26,805 $20,081
Anthropology.Bachelor's $26,106 $12,886
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $26,064 $12,691
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $26,059 $14,957
Psychology, General.Bachelor's $25,695 $14,872
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.Bachelor's $25,662 $12,838
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $24,520 $15,285
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $24,209 $15,122
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication.Bachelor's $24,147 $15,332
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $23,879 $14,000
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $23,178 $15,000
Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $22,994 $10,299
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services.Bachelor's $22,508 $11,000
Music.Bachelor's $17,224 $15,383

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt
$12,847
≈ 20% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (72 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website