Edgar Roa was raised mostly by an immigrant mother who did not have a high school degree, surviving on welfare benefits as her family frequently moved around Southern California in search of affordable housing.
But she’s set to graduate next spring with a degree in the medical field, with average earnings of $126,318 five years after graduation, and from a university whose annual average net cost is just $4,000. Lower tuition costs and higher earnings – along with her GI Bill benefits and a federal Pell Grant – will enable Roa to graduate debt-free and transform her family’s future.
he is present Cal State Dominguez HillsOne of the state’s most effective campuses in offering top salaries to low-income students, According to a new report. Of the 28 programs examined in Dominguez Hills, 23 provided enough income to cover the cost of a degree in a year or less – including registered nursing at $122,899, business at $61,910 and teacher education at $43,988.
Clinical Sciences student at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
(Matt Brown/CSUDH)
As more people question the value of higher education, the report released Thursday provides clear data on how graduates enrolled in 2,695 degree and certificate programs at 324 California colleges and universities make how much more five years later than high school graduates. Earn. The data shows the net educational cost and how quickly students can recoup their educational investment.
The report examined nearly 260,000 undergraduates who received federal financial aid, which was commissioned by the Oakland-based nonprofit. College Futures Foundation and powered by HEA GroupA research and consulting firm that focuses on college access, value, and economic mobility using federal and institutional data.
“We know that attending college can be one of the largest investments a person can make, beyond taking out a mortgage,” said Michael Itzkowitz, president of HEA Group, which wrote the report. “So it’s important that we have all the data in front of us to make sure we’re making the most informed choices.”
College Foundation President Eloy Ortiz Oakley said more people are skeptical about higher education because they fail to see a “clear connection” between educational cost and economic outcome.
“The No. 1 reason people go to college is to improve their economic mobility and the No. 1 reason they don’t is cost,” Oakley said. “This study provides an important first step to help state policymakers as well as institutional leaders identify what is working, but also for those who choose to pursue postsecondary education , what could work better to ensure strong financial results for them.”
Major may be more important than the name of the college
Data shows that majors are often more important than institutions – and community colleges and California State University Campuses can provide attractive post-graduation income to low-income students without plunging them into debt.
Firefighter recruits run from classroom to ladder training at Santa Ana College’s Basic Fire Academy in Huntington Beach.
(Alan J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Of the nine four-year institutions with strong returns on investment and more than 50% of students receiving Pell Grants due to their low income, eight are CSU campuses and the other is UC Merced. CSU campuses are Dominguez Hills, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Northridge, San Bernardino, Sacramento and Stanislaus.
For example, after five years on the job, a Santa Ana College graduate of the fire protection program earns an average annual salary of $114,446 after a net cost of only $2,994 for two years of education. That’s twice as much as Stanford University’s undergraduates in the English Language and Literature program, who earned $56,399 and spent $43,404 for a four-year degree. Net costs reflect program expenses after grant and scholarship support.
The “earnings premium” in the report shows how much more college graduates earn than those with only a high school diploma. The average salary for high school graduates after five years is $26,073.
William Reardon, associate dean of Santa Ana College’s fire technology department, said the demand for firefighters is increasing as more of them move out of the field and climate change makes wildfires more frequent. Annual enrollment in fire technology courses and continuing education has increased by 16% to 12,300 in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. And the enrollment rate in the program is 100%, he said. The program offers degree pathways to become firefighters, fire inspectors and administrators.
Underscoring the importance of majors, the highest-earning UCLA degree was Computer and Information Science. These graduates earn an annual average salary of $218,770 and will be able to recoup their net four-year educational cost of $62,548 in approximately four months.
But according to the report, graduates of UCLA’s drama, theater arts and stagecraft program earned just $28,993 annually — which is slightly more than the average high school graduate’s salary — and will take 21 years to recoup the cost of the degree.
Specific colleges still count when comparing returns on investment between institutions in the same region. The annual fee for a Stanford computer science degree is $247,797, compared to $83,688 for the same degree from Cal State Bakersfield.
Clinical Sciences student at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
(Matt Brown/CSUDH)
Among business majors, UC Berkeley grads earn $145,003 after five years, more than double Cal State LA’s $64,019.
However, Oakley said that “brand name” universities are much less accessible to the vast majority of Californians, especially those who are low-income. The report shows that only 18.8% of Stanford students are Pell Grant recipients, compared to 27.1% at Berkeley and 66.2% at Cal State LA.
Oakley said, “Based on earnings data, we see that there are plenty of options for students to consider outside of the top-named schools easily identified in popular news publications… based on brand value. “Can potentially create a false narrative about.” “‘Brand name’ institutions are not interested in serving large numbers of California’s lowest-income learners.”
He called on the most selective UC campuses – LA, Berkeley and San Diego – to “reach deeper into the applicant pool” and admit more low-income students.
“We should reward institutions for how well they do in providing greater access to the lowest-income Californians,” he said. “This is what our public universities were built for.”
recovering the cost of education
Overall, nearly 9 out of 10 programs across California allow their graduates to recoup their educational costs in five years or less.
But graduates of 112 programs were still earning less than high school graduates five years after earning their degree or certificate. These were mostly certificate programs at for-profit institutions – many of them offering cosmetology programs. The field did not fare well even for those with two-year associate degrees from community colleges: For example, cosmetologists at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College earned only $13,200 annually, half the average salary for high school graduates.
Oakley suggested that educational leaders look for ways to improve returns on low-performing programs—for example, using more apprenticeships rather than higher-priced college certificates and degrees.
“It is important that students examine not only the institution to which they are applying, but also the field of study they wish to consider,” Itzkowitz said.
High-Paying College Programs
Fields with the highest returns on investment include computer science, engineering, and healthcare. Registered nursing is a particularly hot field, with most graduates of two-year community college programs earning six-figure salaries after five years. As salaries continue to rise due to the nursing shortage, travel nurses are being offered $3,000 or more per week in 13-week contracts.
Firefighter recruits are tested before ladder training at Santa Ana College’s Basic Fire Academy in Huntington Beach.
(Alan J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
But demand for nursing degrees far exceeds capacity. For example, Santa Ana College receives 450 to 600 applications each semester for about 40 seats, said Quinn Meyer, associate professor of nursing. A major barrier, she said, is limiting the number of student nurses hospitals accept for on-the-job training.
However, Rao’s high-paying clinical science program at Dominguez Hills is far more accessible. About 90% of applicants are accepted into the program, which trains students to examine blood, spinal fluid and other laboratory results to identify and diagnose potential disease, said an associate professor and department of Chairman Peyman Nasr said. Following their degree program, students must complete a 52-week internship, then pass a national board examination to become a clinical laboratory scientist.
Nearly half the students are the first in their families to attend college, Nasr said, and many are low-income — a point of pride for the university.
Rao couldn’t afford to go straight to college from high school and didn’t want to go into debt, so he enlisted in the Navy—to qualify for GI Bill benefits that would pay for his education. When she researched post-service careers, she thought there would be a lot of jobs and good pay in the healthcare field.
He chose Dominguez Hills over UC Irvine, which offered him admission into its chemistry program. Despite UC’s greater prestige, Dominguez Hills offered a better and more practical fit with specific career training in clinical lab science, he said.
Their decision may also prove to be a more profitable option. According to the report, a UC Irvine graduate in chemistry earned $72,001 after five years — compared to $126,318 for Roa’s Cal State degree.
