CSU Bakersfield Career Outcomes: $59K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do CSU Bakersfield graduates earn?

The reported median is $59,109 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is $1,808 per year.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,109, at the 47th percentile. That is $1,808 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $12,719 more than expects for similar students. That puts the gap at the 88th percentile.

Azimuth places the return in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $155. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $12,874.

The earnings scenarios for California State University-Bakersfield span from a downside of $48,289 to an upside of $76,334, reflecting the range of outcomes associated with the university's program mix. The highest-earning programs show medians well above the institutional figure.

Graduates of Nursing earn a median of $102,298 four years after completion, followed by Electrical Engineering at $97,998 and Computer Engineering at $93,797.

An estimated 31.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the university's program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings figures capture only those working and not enrolled, the median earnings understate the eventual earnings of the sizable share of completers who pursue advanced degrees.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $59,109
Rank for difference from expectations: 88th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

CSU Bakersfield reported median: $59,109
Peer schools comparable schools · $1,808 below CSU Bakersfield: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $12,719 below CSU Bakersfield: $46,390

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: $48,289
Median · reported: $59,109
Higher estimate: $76,334

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 CSU Bakersfield 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.

CSU Bakersfield graduates’ reported earnings are $12,719 above that expectation, the 88th 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 CSU Bakersfield caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at CSU Bakersfield report the highest earnings?

California State University-Bakersfield awards bachelor's degrees across 22 fields with published four-year earnings. The highest-earning program is Nursing, where completers earn a median of $102,298 four years after completion, alongside 101 degrees awarded.

Electrical Engineering follows at $97,998 with 30 degrees awarded, and Computer Engineering reaches $93,797 on 15 degrees awarded. Among the university's largest programs, Business Administration and Management accounts for 351 degrees awarded and shows median earnings of $61,705.

Liberal Arts and General Studies awards 312 degrees with a median of $57,529. Psychology, at 294 degrees awarded, reports a median of $49,207, illustrating the spread between higher- and moderate-earning fields at the university.

The university has earnings data for 22 bachelor's fields. The largest by degrees awarded is Business Administration and Management, with 351 degrees awarded and a median of $61,705 four years after completion.

Liberal Arts and General Studies follows at 312 degrees awarded and a median of $57,529, while Psychology accounts for 294 degrees awarded and a median of $49,207. The fields with the highest published medians are Nursing at $102,298 with 101 degrees awarded, Electrical Engineering at $97,998 and 30 degrees awarded, and Computer Engineering at $93,797 with 15 degrees awarded.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $48,289, a typical outcome of $59,109, and an upside of $76,334. The highest-earning program, Nursing, reaches $102,298 four years after completion, while among the largest programs, Psychology sits at $49,207.

The median earnings of California State University-Bakersfield graduates four years after completion reach $59,109, drawn from a cohort of 2,301 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure runs above the median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,808.

Graduates earn about $12,719 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 88th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's program mix yields a typical earnings scenario of $59,109, while the downside scenario lands at $48,289 and the upside scenario reaches $76,334.

An estimated 31.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from 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.