Research · Majors · October 2026

Which Majors Pay, and Where a California Student Can Get Into Them

As of October 2026: Computer engineering leads the federal pay table at a median of $106,431 four years out, with computer science at $100,650, while the most common major of all, business administration, pays $65,359. Getting in is a second gate: UC Berkeley admitted 4 percent of computer science applicants in 2025, while California State University-Monterey Bay admitted 95.7 percent.

Federal earnings data for 131 bachelor's majors, plus the program-level admit rate at every California public campus that reports one.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

Which bachelor's majors pay the most four years out?

These are the 25 best-paying bachelor's majors in the federal College Scorecard file, measured as median earnings four years after students finish. Only programs reported by at least 30 colleges are included, which leaves 131 majors in the full set.

Median across colleges reporting the program. A median is the middle, so half of graduates earn less.

What do the most popular majors actually pay?

These are the 25 bachelor's programs with the most graduates in the federal earnings cohort. Together they hold 1,055,810 graduates, so this table describes where most students really end up.

Six of these 25 majors report pay above $75,000, and 12 report pay below $55,000.

Computer science in California: what is the admit rate into the major?

All 49 California colleges in our computer science file, sorted by the rate into the program where one is reported. Thirty report a program rate; 19 do not.

A college with no first-year row here is not an easier door; it means the system does not publish an admit rate for computer science, and at most UC campuses a student is admitted to the campus rather than to the major. Where a program does report its own rate for computer science, that is the number to plan around.

Nursing in California: how hard is the program gate at each campus?

All 47 California colleges in our nursing file. Twelve report a rate into the program, 35 do not, and 7 of the reported paths are open to transfer students only.

A nursing program that reports no first-year row is not 'easy'; it is a program families should plan around the pre-nursing gate, which is often harder than the campus.

Mechanical engineering in California: who reports a rate into the major?

All 29 California colleges in our mechanical engineering file. Twenty report a rate into the program, and 9 do not report admissions by major.

No mechanical engineering program in this California data reports a transfer path only, so a student applying out of high school is applying to the program itself at the CSU campuses and to the campus at the UCs. Where a college below shows no first-year row, it is because that college does not report admissions by major, not because the major is closed.

Business administration in California: where is the program gate?

All 59 California colleges in our business administration file. Twenty-seven report a rate into a named business program, and 32 do not.

A business major with no first-year row is not closed to freshmen; it means the campus reported no first-year applicants under that name, so freshmen enter as another business major and apply into that one later. At the UC campuses the rate shown is for the students who applied under that major, and at most campuses the admission decision is made by the campus rather than by the business school.

Which college majors pay the most four years after graduation?

Computer engineering tops the federal list at a median of $106,431 four years after students finish the degree. Computer science follows at $100,650, then electrical engineering at $98,871 and chemical engineering at $97,202. Those four sit at the head of a list of 131 majors that at least 30 colleges report.

The pattern in the top 25 is easy to read. Engineering fields hold most of the places. Computing holds most of the rest. A few outside those two families still land high: applied mathematics at $94,261, construction management at $93,431, and statistics at $87,334.

Nursing is the one big field on the list that is not an engineering or computing degree. It reports $84,759 and is reported by 714 colleges, far more than any other major in the top 25. That means the number is not driven by a handful of famous programs.

For a family, the useful takeaway is simple. The highest medians cluster in a short list of technical fields, and most of those fields share the same first two years of math and science. A student who is open to several of them has more paths to the same pay range than a student locked onto one.

What do the majors most students actually choose pay?

Business administration is the most common major, with 122,120 graduates in the earnings cohort, and it pays a median of $65,359. The 25 most common majors together hold 1,055,810 graduates. Only 6 of those 25 report pay above $75,000, and 12 report pay below $55,000.

Nursing is the second most common major at 111,384 graduates and the best paid of the common group at $84,759. Psychology is third at 104,081 graduates and reports $50,326. Biology, fourth at 78,091 graduates, reports $58,075.

Two computing majors appear on both lists. Computer science has 34,391 graduates and $100,650. Computer and information sciences, general has 32,062 graduates and $88,377. Mechanical engineering, with 33,901 graduates, reports $91,028.

The lowest number in the common table is fine and studio arts at $41,818. Teacher education, specific levels and methods, reports $48,037 across 601 colleges. These are real careers that many families value, and the table is not an argument against them. It is a plain statement of what the first years after the degree look like in pay.

How hard is it to get into computer science at a UC?

At UC Berkeley, 7,215 students applied to computer science in 2025 and 283 were admitted, a rate of 4 percent. UCLA admitted 498 of 6,803, or 7 percent. UC San Diego admitted 672 of 6,464, a rate of 10 percent.

The spread across the UC system is wide. UC Davis reports 19 percent and UC Irvine reports 30 percent. UC Santa Barbara reports 34 percent. UC Riverside reports 78 percent and UC Santa Cruz reports 81 percent, both far above the top campuses.

Compare the program rate with the campus rate and the gap stands out. UC San Diego admits 27 percent of all applicants but 10 percent into computer science. UC Berkeley admits 10 percent of applicants and 4 percent into the major.

Eight UC campuses report a rate for computer science, along with 22 CSU campuses, for 30 of the 49 colleges in the table. For a student who wants this major, those 30 numbers are the real admissions map. The campus rate alone will mislead a family in both directions.

Which California computer science programs admit most applicants?

California State University-Monterey Bay admitted 648 of 677 computer science applicants, a rate of 95.7 percent. CSU San Bernardino reports 95.4 percent and CSU Dominguez Hills reports 94.9 percent. Eleven of the 49 colleges in the table admit 90 percent or more into the major.

Pay at these open-door programs is not small. CSU Monterey Bay reports $101,787 four years out and CSU Northridge reports $101,348 at a 92.9 percent program rate. CSU Chico reports $127,498 at an 89.0 percent rate.

Some report lower pay. CSU Fresno reports $71,490 and CSU Stanislaus reports $71,601. Cal Poly Humboldt reports $74,620. The majors are the same on paper, so the differences reflect the students a campus enrolls and the jobs near it.

Net price matters here too. CSU Los Angeles reports an average net price of $3,967 with a program rate of 89.9 percent and pay of $87,525. CSU San Bernardino reports $4,564. A family looking at cost against pay should read those two columns side by side.

Why is nursing so much harder to enter than the campus suggests?

UC Irvine admitted 57 of 7,079 nursing applicants in 2025, a rate of 1 percent, while the campus itself admitted 30 percent. That is the sharpest gap in any table on this page. CSU Long Beach reports 2.8 percent into nursing and San Diego State reports 3.5 percent.

Only 12 of the 47 California colleges in our nursing file report a rate into the program. One is a UC campus and 11 are CSU campuses. Thirty-five report no program rate at all.

Seven of the reported paths are open to transfer students only, which means freshmen enter as pre-nursing and apply later. CSU Long Beach, CSU Channel Islands, CSU Fresno, CSU East Bay, San Francisco State, CSU Stanislaus, and CSU Northridge all carry that label. Nine campuses are marked impacted.

A nursing program that reports no first-year row is not easy; it is a program families should plan around the pre-nursing gate, which is often harder than the campus. CSU Channel Islands admits 93 percent of applicants to the campus and 7.9 percent into nursing.

Do the easy-to-enter nursing programs still pay well?

CSU East Bay reports nursing pay of $150,921 four years out with a program rate of 60.9 percent. San Francisco State reports $150,102 with a reported rate of 100.0 percent on 41 applicants. Those are among the highest earnings on this page.

The small applicant counts explain the high rates. CSU Stanislaus reports 20 applicants and 20 admits. CSU Northridge reports 92 and 92. These are transfer paths, so the pool is already trimmed to students who finished pre-nursing coursework.

Nursing pay is high across almost every California college that reports it. Sonoma State reports $143,886, the University of San Francisco reports $143,356, and Pacific Union College reports $140,542. Even the lower end of the table, CSU Bakersfield at $102,298, clears six figures.

Sixteen colleges in the nursing table report no earnings at all. Several of those are for-profit or health-only schools. A family comparing nursing options should expect gaps in the record and not read a blank as a bad result.

Where can a California student get into mechanical engineering?

UC Berkeley and UCLA both admitted 4 percent of mechanical engineering applicants in 2025, and UC San Diego admitted 5 percent. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo reports 13.3 percent and UC Davis reports 25 percent. Twenty of the 29 colleges in the table report a rate into the program.

The middle of the table is where most families will plan. CSU Long Beach reports 36.2 percent, San Diego State reports 41.1 percent, and Cal Poly Pomona reports 41.5 percent. San Jose State reports 55.1 percent and Cal Maritime reports 60.5 percent.

Seven programs admit 90 percent or more. UC Merced sits at 97 percent on 2,311 applicants, the most open UC door for this major by a wide margin. CSU Sacramento reports 95.2 percent and Cal Poly Humboldt reports 94.7 percent.

No mechanical engineering program in this California data reports a transfer path only, so a student applying out of high school is applying to the program itself at the CSU campuses and to the campus at the UCs. Three campuses sit at or below 10 percent, and seven are marked impacted.

Does paying more for college mean higher pay in the same major?

CSU Los Angeles reports an average net price of $3,967 and mechanical engineering pay of $93,028, close to UC Riverside at $93,721 with a net price of $14,304. Price and pay do not move together in a straight line. The tables hold several pairs like that.

In computer science the highest earnings do sit at costly or very selective schools. Pomona College reports $217,051 and UCLA reports $216,722. Stanford reports $214,907 and Caltech reports $200,511. All four admit 13 percent or fewer applicants.

The reverse case matters more for most families. CSU East Bay reports computer science pay of $119,900 with an average net price of $9,320 and a program rate of 85.2 percent. That is a reachable door at a modest price with strong reported pay.

In business the gap runs the other way at some private colleges. La Sierra University reports an average net price of $45,566 and business pay of $56,939. Pepperdine reports a net price of $58,098 and pay of $100,595. The price tag does not predict the result.

Why does business administration show so few selective doors?

Only 1 of the 59 California colleges in our business table reports a program rate at or below 10 percent, and that is UC Berkeley at 5 percent. Fourteen report 90 percent or more. Business is the broadest field here and the easiest to enter at most campuses.

The named programs vary, which is part of the story. UC Davis reports under Business, UC Riverside under Business Analytics, and San Jose State under Entrepreneurship. CSU Bakersfield reports Small Business Management and CSU San Bernardino reports Business Special Interest.

That naming matters when reading a rate. A business major with no first-year row is not closed to freshmen; it means the campus reported no first-year applicants under that name, so freshmen enter as another business major and apply into that one later.

Volume at a few campuses is striking. CSU Fullerton reports 11,119 business applicants and 9,637 admits, a rate of 86.7 percent. UC Irvine reports 15,478 applicants and 2,299 admits at 15 percent. Both are large programs; only one is a narrow door.

What does the same business degree pay at different California colleges?

UC Berkeley reports business pay of $144,599 four years out, the highest in the California business table. Northeastern University Oakland reports $113,620 and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo reports $110,902. The federal median for business administration nationwide is $65,359.

Most California campuses land near that national figure. CSU Sacramento reports $67,636, Cal Poly Pomona reports $70,954, and CSU Channel Islands reports $71,183. CSU San Bernardino reports $56,773 and Cal Poly Humboldt reports $60,005.

The private colleges spread widely. The University of San Francisco reports $104,390 and Pepperdine reports $100,595, while Mount Saint Mary's University reports $63,194 and Vanguard University reports $62,957. Price and selectivity both vary across that group.

Earnings travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college. A business degree from a campus with a 5 percent program rate is reporting on a different group of students than one with a 96.1 percent rate. Read the pay column next to the gate column, never alone.

What does it mean when a college reports no admit rate for a major?

Thirty-five of the 47 colleges in the nursing table and 19 of the 49 in the computer science table report no rate into the program. That silence is not a signal about difficulty. It means the system does not publish a rate at that level.

A college with no first-year row here is not an easier door; it means the system does not publish an admit rate for computer science, and at most UC campuses a student is admitted to the campus rather than to the major. Stanford, Caltech, Pomona, and Harvey Mudd all fall into that group.

Nursing adds a second kind of blank. Six California colleges report only an RN-to-BSN row, which serves nurses who already hold a license. Sonoma State, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU San Bernardino, Cal Poly Humboldt, and San Jose State carry that label.

When no program rate exists, the campus admit rate is the best public anchor, and the pay column still applies to graduates of that major. We do not fill those blanks with guesses. A null in these tables means not reported, and we say so.

How should a family use these tables when building a college list?

Start with the pay table, since only 6 of the 25 most common majors clear $75,000 four years out. Then move to the state tables and find the program rate, not the campus rate, for the major your student wants. Those two steps answer most of the question.

Build the list in three bands using the program rate. UC Berkeley computer science at 4 percent and UC Irvine nursing at 1 percent belong in the reach band for almost every applicant. CSU Northridge computer science at 92.9 percent and CSU Monterey Bay business at 96.1 percent are likely admits.

Add the net price column before the list is final. CSU Fullerton reports $6,555 average net price with mechanical engineering pay of $86,808. Loyola Marymount reports $48,381 with mechanical engineering pay of $96,226. Both are real options; they are not the same purchase.

Last, check the labels. Seven nursing paths in California are open to transfer students only, which changes the plan for a ninth grader. Nine nursing campuses and six computer science campuses are marked impacted, so course records and grades carry more weight there.

Related: All major pages · Nursing · Computer science · College outcomes by program