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🎓 College profile

California State University-Chico

CA · Public · Mid-size city · 22,263 applicants 2023

94% admit rate $23,566/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $127,498 four years out; music grads about $42,269 — a 3.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 6× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$26,283/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$64,172/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at California State University-Chico Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. California State University-Chico starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$14,480/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$8,472 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Social Sciences (the two biggest majors)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Total enrollment
13,631
10,000 - 19,999
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$8,472
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$21,072
+$12,600 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
93.7%
Accepts the majority
Test policyScores aren't considered at all, even if sent — the UCs are the big example. Grades and course rigor carry the weight.
Test-blind
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$64,172
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

🎓 Admitted-student GPA

3.42 average

CSU a–g GPA, enrolled first-year students (Fall 2022 (2022-2023 Common Data Set)). CSU Chico is broadly accessible; this is the typical profile of enrolling students. Cal State is test-blind (no SAT/ACT in admissions), so the a–g GPA is the key academic signal. Source ↗

CSU first-year GPA — verified 2026-06-15 against the campus's official Common Data Set / admissions data. The GPA basis (a–g vs. weighted vs. 4.0-scale) differs from the unweighted GPA shown for private colleges.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$50,493
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$64,172
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
63%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$16,552

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $23,566/yr at California State University-Chico; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$26,283/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with California State University-Chico's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$23,566/yr
Family income $75-110k
$16,506/yr
Family income $48-75k
$12,961/yr
Family income $30-48k
$10,099/yr
Family income $0-30k
$9,902/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

6.1× at full price 11.1× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$105,132
~$26,283/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$57,920
$14,480/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$641,720
$64,172/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.6 yrs
at full price (0.9 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at California State University-Chico

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what California State University-Chico actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
498 degrees · 29.4%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Social Sciences
361 degrees · 21.3%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
3. Psychology
304 degrees · 18.0%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
4. Health Professions
293 degrees · 17.3%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
5. Agriculture
237 degrees · 14.0%
Farm management, food science, ag-business operations. Wide range based on path.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — California State University-Chico's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 81 $81,021 $127,498
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 127 $113,181 $117,543
Construction Management. Bachelor's Degree — $89,075 $108,021
Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree — $77,965 $106,225
Engineering, Other. Bachelor's Degree 34 $74,204 $103,272
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 12 — $97,345
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 72 $73,297 $93,555
Civil Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 88 $72,350 $92,472
Computer and Information Sciences, General. Bachelor's Degree 77 $49,967 $91,059
Engineering-Related Fields. Bachelor's Degree 30 $69,042 $86,430

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
2.2%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
2.0%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
32.2%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
43%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at California State University-Chico

CS degrees (annual)
91
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to California State University-Chico

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
University of Mississippi
MS · Public
14 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Kentucky
KY · Public
8 stats-based + 5 competitive scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $14,446 less before aid
Gordon State College
GA · Public
$14,771/yr full price (in-state) · $11,512 less before aid
CUNY Medgar Evers College
NY · Public
$14,771/yr full price (in-state) · $11,512 less before aid
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than California State University-Chico does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public
9.9% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
TX · Public
7.7% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)
The University of Texas at El Paso
TX · Public
6.8% mobility rate (vs 2.0% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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