Top Ranked Programs
California State University-Chico's program mix is anchored in Business, which accounts for 14% of degree output, followed by Social Sciences at 10% and Arts at 6%. That applied-professional concentration shapes the institution's earnings profile: the largest programs by cohort size tend to sit in business, health, and social-science fields, and the highest-earning programs cluster in nursing, construction management, and business-adjacent disciplines. Business Administration combines strong cohort scale with solid earnings, making it the program that contributes most to the university's aggregate return. Among the largest programs, Business Administration program graduates 585 students annually with median earnings of $72,651 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks it #129 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Psychology, General (346 graduates, $52,621) and General Studies (216 graduates, $55,008) round out the high-enrollment core. On the earnings side, Nursing leads with median earnings of $117,543 from a cohort of 127 graduates, and Azimuth ranks it #36 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Business Administration follows at $72,651 with 585 graduates, and Criminal Justice posts $58,464 from 139 graduates — both reflecting strong applied-field demand in California's labor market. Several of California State University-Chico's strongest earners — notably Nursing and Business Administration — feed directly into high-demand, workforce-ready careers where four-year earnings reflect actual labor-market outcomes rather than graduate-school deferral. Programs like Kinesiology and Sociology, by contrast, may include graduates who continue to advanced study, meaning four-year earnings undercount their long-run trajectory. Across 56 programs serving roughly 4,109 students annually, 44 meet Azimuth's [ranking threshold](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/), and the [supply-demand map](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides additional context for how the university's business-heavy portfolio aligns with regional and national hiring patterns. ```