Career outcomes brief
California State University-Long Beach Career Outcomes & Earnings
How much do CSU Long Beach graduates earn?
California State University-Long Beach reports median earnings of $63,140 four years after completion. Its lower and higher planning estimates are $47,253 and $88,247.
The lower and higher estimates reflect different mixes of program earnings. They are not observed salary percentiles, the pay of the lowest- and highest-paid quarters of graduates, or probabilities for an individual student.
- Lower estimate
- $47,253
- Median · reported
- $63,140
- Higher estimate
- $88,247
Earnings sources and definitions
The lower estimate lets you examine a plan with less income than the school-wide median. Compare it with costs and with the fields you are considering, while keeping the modeled estimates separate from reported earnings.
Azimuth ranks California State University-Long Beach #2 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions, and the return sits at the 53rd percentile. Graduates earn about $3,705 more than expects for similar students, a result in the 67th percentile.
The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,802. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $4,097.
Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,625. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled post median earnings of $63,140, in the 61st percentile.
The median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $65,610, placing the university below by $2,470.
The earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from $47,253 to $88,247, with $63,140 as the typical scenario. These are estimates, not observed groups of graduates.
The highest-earning programs sit well above the typical scenario. Nursing graduates earn $111,681 four years after completion, from 221 degrees awarded.
Biomedical Engineering and Construction Engineering Technology/Technician follow at $106,540 and $103,125, from 40 and 53 degrees awarded.
An estimated 28.7% 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, this estimate indicates that a sizable portion of completers may be building additional human capital outside the earnings snapshot.
Earnings by field
Among California State University-Long Beach programs with a reported four-year earnings value, the highest medians are: Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($111,681); Biomedical/Medical Engineering ($106,540); Construction Engineering Technology/Technician ($103,125); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($103,075); Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering ($101,797). These are earnings after completion for the covered cohort.
A program median describes the middle reported outcome in that group. It is not a starting-salary offer or a prediction for every graduate, and an earnings comparison does not by itself explain why fields differ.
Compare these results with the subjects you want to study and the program’s reported award count. Awards measure degree output, not the number of people in the earnings sample.
The best-paid program is Nursing, where graduates earn $111,681 four years after completion from 221 degrees awarded. Azimuth ranks it #38 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.
Electrical Engineering also posts high earnings at $103,075, with 125 degrees awarded and a national rank of #45. These fields sit well above the largest programs by degrees awarded.
Business Administration and Management is the largest program at 1,566 degrees a year. Its graduates earn $67,853 four years after completion, and Azimuth ranks it #83 nationally.
Psychology, the next largest, awards 528 degrees; its graduates earn $48,926 and Azimuth ranks it #163 nationally.
California State University-Long Beach has 50 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and the strongest of them are not the largest. Social Work ranks #2 in its field, with 72 degrees awarded and median earnings of $68,448 four years after completion.
The largest program is Business Administration and Management, at 1,566 degrees a year. Azimuth ranks it #83 nationally, and its completers earn a median of $67,853.
The highest-paid program is Nursing, ranked #38 in its field, with 221 degrees awarded and median earnings of $111,681. Biomedical Engineering, ranked #15 in its field, follows at $106,540 from 40 degrees.
A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are much smaller.
Explore CSU Long Beach earnings by field · Cost and borrowing
Do CSU Long Beach graduates earn more than expected?
California State University-Long Beach reports median earnings of $63,140 four years after completion. The reported value is $3,705 above Azimuth’s statistical expectation for the institution.
The difference compares the reported outcome with a model estimate. It does not compare matched students who attended different colleges, and it does not establish how much the institution caused earnings to change.
Read this measure alongside completion and individual program outcomes. It describes an institution-level result; it does not predict what a particular student will earn.
Read the original article: A value-added approach to college outcomes
- Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
- +$7,802
- Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
- -$4,097
- Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
- +$3,705
These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Further analysis
Earnings vary sharply by field, as earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show. The typical earnings scenario lands at $63,140, the downside scenario at $47,253, and the upside scenario at $88,247.
Anchoring that spread in named programs: the highest-earning field, Nursing, reaches $111,681, while among the largest programs Fine and Studio Arts sits at $43,349.
Four years after completion, the median earnings of California State University-Long Beach graduates stand at $63,140, placing the university in the 61st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The earnings cohort includes 9,904 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.
Graduates earn about $3,705 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 67th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix point to a typical outcome of $63,140, with a downside scenario of $47,253 and an upside scenario of $88,247.
The model estimates that 28.7% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.
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.
Four-year earnings are measured after completion for the covered federally aided cohort of people working and not enrolled. Measures taken six, eight or ten years after entry use a different starting point and should not be treated as one graduating class followed over time.
Program award counts describe credentials awarded, not current enrollment, unique graduates or earnings-sample size. Reporting periods differ across measures; the shared field definitions do not establish the exact vintage of every school-level value.
College Scorecard data and documentation · Model methodology