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

# University of California-Davis

Davis, 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 | $80,838 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $53,021 – $122,634 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $11,000 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $7,500 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 86% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $41,238 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 84% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.14× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $52,838 | derived |

**86% 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 (≈ 14% 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 $20,210 to $127,500 across 74 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $127,500 | $50,303 |
| Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other. | Master's Degree | $121,903 | $147,104 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Doctoral Degree | $112,976 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $106,299 | $93,512 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Master's Degree | $94,825 | not reported |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $81,487 | $12,703 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $76,488 | $14,000 |
| Engineering, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,487 | $14,939 |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $73,514 | $92,689 |
| Civil Engineering. | Master's Degree | $73,360 | $19,591 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $65,097 | $49,971 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,370 | $13,867 |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,244 | $16,000 |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $60,999 | $18,748 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $58,497 | $126,027 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | Doctoral Degree | $58,139 | not reported |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $57,536 | $15,750 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Doctoral Degree | $57,004 | not reported |
| Materials Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $55,386 | $18,777 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $52,044 | $28,522 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,679 | $15,979 |
| Education, General. | Master's Degree | $51,591 | $20,500 |
| Chemistry. | Doctoral Degree | $50,879 | not reported |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences. | Doctoral Degree | $47,515 | not reported |
| Business/Managerial Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,453 | $12,917 |
| Statistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,204 | $14,917 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $44,249 | $12,500 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,801 | $11,932 |
| Biotechnology. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,600 | $12,843 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,205 | $13,000 |
| Food Science and Technology. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,648 | $14,666 |
| Pharmacology and Toxicology. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,455 | $12,072 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,895 | $13,000 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,040 | $14,924 |
| Cognitive Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,727 | $15,000 |
| Public Administration and Social Service Professions, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,754 | $14,171 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,570 | $11,000 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,536 | not reported |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,137 | $16,000 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,746 | $15,000 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,697 | $13,000 |
| Environmental Design. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,527 | not reported |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,098 | $14,154 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,621 | $14,235 |
| Agricultural Production Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,073 | $10,999 |
| Genetics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,038 | $13,848 |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,847 | $13,065 |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,689 | $14,500 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,542 | $13,687 |
| Natural Resources and Conservation, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,303 | not reported |
| International Relations and National Security Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,132 | $12,500 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,674 | $12,600 |
| Nutrition Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,513 | $14,166 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,340 | $11,000 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,189 | $13,312 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,450 | $14,000 |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,441 | $12,000 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,860 | $12,866 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,791 | $13,000 |
| Zoology/Animal Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,474 | not reported |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,232 | $12,917 |
| Applied Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,025 | $13,000 |
| Animal Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,988 | $13,000 |
| Psychology, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,609 | $14,059 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,495 | $13,500 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,416 | $13,798 |
| Physics. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,226 | $14,354 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,006 | $13,000 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,992 | $14,000 |
| Music. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,793 | $16,500 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,504 | $19,591 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,318 | $13,981 |
| Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,267 | $15,000 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,210 | $17,500 |

## 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 University of California-Davis by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?110644

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