California Lutheran University Earnings: $70K (2026)

How much do California Lutheran University graduates earn?

The reported median is $69,695 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is $1,445 per year.

California Lutheran University has a favorable four-year earnings picture: Graduates earn about $6,653 more than expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sit in the 76th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $175. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,478.

Azimuth places the return in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings four years after completion are $69,695, in the 76th percentile nationally.

That is $1,445 above the peer median of $68,250, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

California Lutheran University has a broad modeled earnings range: the downside scenario is $49,306, and the upside scenario is $79,544. These are scenarios based on program mix, rather than observed groups.

Published earnings cover 13 programs. Four years after completion, median program earnings reach $89,573 in Accounting, $83,310 in Management Science, and $77,030 in Computer Science.

Those program results illustrate why modeled outcomes extend from the downside to the upside scenario.

Four-year earnings describe completers who are working and not enrolled, rather than every graduate. An estimated 32.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

That estimate matters when reading the four-year earnings figure because some completers are outside that earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $69,695
Rank for difference from expectations: 76th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

California Lutheran University reported median: $69,695
Peer schools comparable schools · $1,445 below California Lutheran University: $68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $6,653 below California Lutheran University: $63,042

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $49,306
Median · reported: $69,695
Higher estimate: $79,544

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do California Lutheran University graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

California Lutheran University graduates’ reported earnings are $6,653 above that expectation, the 76th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending California Lutheran University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at California Lutheran University report the highest earnings?

At California Lutheran University, earnings differ across fields, so the program choice changes the return picture. Four years after completion, Accounting has median earnings of $89,573 and awarded 28 degrees.

Management Science records $83,310 in median earnings, with 26 degrees awarded. The higher-earning fields contrast with larger programs at more moderate earnings levels.

Psychology reports median earnings of $59,153 four years after completion and awarded 116 degrees. Kinesiology and Physical Education reaches $59,820 and awarded 60 degrees.

The figures show that the programs with the most degrees awarded do not necessarily sit at the upper end of the school’s program earnings range.

Business accounts for 20.8% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family at the university. Published earnings data cover 13 bachelor’s programs, so the available outcomes span more than the largest fields alone.

Among the higher-earning programs, Accounting awarded 28 degrees and shows median earnings of $89,573 four years after completion. Management Science awarded 26 degrees, with median earnings of $83,310, while Computer Science awarded 33 degrees and reports $77,030. These fields show that earnings vary within the university’s program mix.

Further analysis

The program mix yields a broad set of modeled four-year earnings scenarios: $49,306 in the downside scenario, $69,695 in the typical scenario, and $79,544 in the upside scenario. Accounting, the highest-earning program, has median earnings of $89,573, while Psychology is the lowest-earning among the largest programs at $59,153. The spread shows that earnings vary substantially by field.

At California Lutheran University, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $69,695 four years after completing a degree. That figure sits in the 76th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 864 completers.

Graduates earn about $6,653 more than the model expects for similar students. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix put typical earnings at $69,695, with a downside scenario of $49,306 and an upside scenario of $79,544.

An estimated 32.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.