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

# University of California-Irvine

Irvine, 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 | $80,735 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $54,469 – $117,372 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $13,820 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $9,816 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 87% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $38,632 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 82% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.17× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $52,735 | derived |

**87% 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 $13,820 (≈ 17% 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 $17,240 to $122,124 across 61 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $122,124 | not reported |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $109,417 | $85,000 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $104,708 | $72,394 |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $77,451 | $133,605 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,618 | $13,500 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $70,796 | $15,000 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $68,056 | $19,000 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $67,396 | $19,000 |
| Chemistry. | Doctoral Degree | $67,329 | not reported |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $62,257 | $17,816 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $61,606 | $32,396 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $59,868 | $14,750 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $59,500 | $30,500 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $58,369 | $191,478 |
| Criminology. | Master's Degree | $56,448 | $37,396 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $55,841 | $16,500 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $55,295 | $18,250 |
| City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning. | Master's Degree | $53,180 | $41,000 |
| Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,400 | not reported |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,033 | $18,400 |
| Education, General. | Doctoral Degree | $51,781 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Master's Degree | $51,313 | $41,000 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,200 | $16,750 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Doctoral Degree | $50,996 | not reported |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $50,491 | $20,000 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,857 | $13,000 |
| Business/Managerial Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,611 | $15,000 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $40,204 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,188 | $15,004 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,993 | $16,950 |
| Computer Software and Media Applications. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,812 | $21,800 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,936 | $13,000 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,369 | $12,477 |
| Physics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,381 | $13,590 |
| International/Globalization Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,752 | $14,999 |
| Social Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,400 | $16,338 |
| Public Health. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,524 | $17,148 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,501 | $16,800 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,631 | $16,000 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,085 | $15,000 |
| Urban Studies/Affairs. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,073 | $15,122 |
| Criminology. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,048 | $15,383 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,714 | $14,900 |
| Journalism. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,207 | $17,200 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,145 | $16,000 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,905 | $14,916 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,856 | $9,000 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Doctoral Degree | $27,799 | not reported |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,585 | $13,000 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,415 | $18,998 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,030 | $16,000 |
| Education, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,783 | $15,863 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,943 | $15,700 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,520 | $16,446 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,367 | $16,201 |
| Dance. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,184 | $20,080 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,595 | $15,526 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,274 | $15,179 |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration. | Bachelor's Degree | $18,068 | $15,279 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $17,855 | $18,500 |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $17,240 | not reported |

## 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-Irvine by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?110653

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