College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

California State University-San Bernardino

CALarge public institution · Overall rank #43 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks California State University-San Bernardino #43 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

California State University-San Bernardino is a public university in San Bernardino, California, where the degree mix is led by Business, Psychology, and Social Sciences. Affordability and mobility are both among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that gain to a remainder it cannot explain than to the factors it measures, so the advantage does not rest solely on what students study.

Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate above the entering cohort as a whole, and what the lowest-income families pay after aid is well below the published cost. Access is among the highest we track.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

A student drawn to Business should know that the highest-earning programs, like Nursing, are much smaller.

CSUSB at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
93.7%
Six-year completion[2]
54.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$55,441

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$4,735
Median student debt[4]
$14,715
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$12,000

CSUSB rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

California State University-San Bernardino is a public university located in San Bernardino, California, with an undergraduate enrollment of 15,023. The university lands near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (composite at the 97th percentile).

Most applicants gain admission; the rate is 93.7%, above the 78.1% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). For the full-time first-year cohort, the retention rate is 79.6%, below the 83.1% median at comparable institutions.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 54.9%, below the 65.0% median at comparable institutions. An estimated 53.5% of students enter California State University-San Bernardino as transfers or part-time students, meaning the six-year rate captures only a minority of those who study here.

The four sit far apart. Affordability and mobility are the strongest (at the 98th and 97th percentiles), with access close behind (at the 95th percentile).

Return is the weakest of the four (at the 39th percentile), sitting well below the other three, and that spread leaves it as the clear outlier.

Azimuth places affordability in the 98th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, the strongest pillar for California State University-San Bernardino. Azimuth places mobility in the 97th percentile.

Azimuth places access in the 95th percentile and return in the 39th percentile, the weakest pillar. Among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions, the university holds a composite rank of #43. That overall position corresponds to the 97th percentile.

The undergraduate body at California State University-San Bernardino draws heavily from students who receive Pell Grants, a marker of financial access: 57.6%. Azimuth places the university at #78 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The six-year completion rate among Pell recipients reaches 64.0%, a level 9.1 percentage points above the overall graduation rate (54.9%). Azimuth ranks the university #38 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

CSUSB rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#43
California#17
West#19

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 97
Access & reach
National percentile: 95
Affordability
National percentile: 98
Return on investment
National percentile: 39

Top-ranked majors

  1. Social Work#3
  2. Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing#49
  3. Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General#64

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / CSUSB briefing

CSUSB cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at California State University-San Bernardino is $17,427, and the average net price for aid recipients is $4,564. That is $11,070 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported sticker charges for the 2026-27 academic year. In-state tuition was $6,450, required fees were $2,122, and on-campus food and housing was $16,180.

Out-of-state tuition was listed at $11,778. Azimuth ranks the university #36 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at California State University-San Bernardino is $17,427. Azimuth ranks the university #36 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $2,681, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $4,735, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $14,316. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $11,635.

Aid covers about 74% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The across all aid recipients is $4,564, which is $11,070 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median of $14,715 in federal student loans. That is $5,361 below the $20,076 peer median.

About 46.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $12,000 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $167 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$4,735

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at CSUSB

Borrowers who complete a degree at California State University-San Bernardino leave with a median of $14,715 in federal student loans. That median is $5,361 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

46.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $12,000.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 35% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $17,857 per borrower. Federal loans accounted for most of that, with 35% of graduates holding federal debt at an average of $17,527.

Four years after completion, federally aided completers from California State University-San Bernardino show median earnings of $55,441, placing the university in the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $10,169.

Graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The program mix anchors three earnings scenarios: a typical figure of $55,441, a downside of $44,540, and an upside of $68,882.

The median federal student debt at completion is $14,715, which is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,361. The estimated monthly payment on that debt is $167.

Parent borrowers at the university took on a median of $12,000 in Parent PLUS loans, a separate federal borrowing population. The estimated monthly payment on the median federal student debt if repaid over ten years is $167.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$14,715
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$12,000

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$167/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$152/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / CSUSB briefing

CSUSB career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Azimuth ranks the return pillar for California State University-San Bernardino in the 39th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university's weakest pillar alongside strong affordability and mobility scores. Graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students, a level in the 81st percentile nationally.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $2,668. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,251.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $956. Median earnings four years after completion stand at $55,441, in the 35th percentile.

The peer median among comparable institutions (same type and size) is $65,610, leaving the university below by $10,169.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of California State University-San Bernardino who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $55,441. The earnings cohort includes 4,757 completers.

That median sits at the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. It is $10,169 below the $65,610 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the result at the 81st percentile.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix span from $44,540 on the downside to $68,882 on the upside, with $55,441 as the typical outcome. An estimated 30.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Graduates earn below the peer median but above what the model expects, so the earnings picture is mixed.

Four years after completion, California State University-San Bernardino graduates earn a median of $55,441, which places the university in the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs below the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $10,169.

Still, graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 81st percentile nationally. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $2,668.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,251. Within the measured factors, $956 adds from STEM programs.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $44,540 and an upside of $68,882. Azimuth ranks the return pillar #899 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university's largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 686 degrees and shows median earnings of $56,361. The highest-earning program is Nursing, with 117 degrees awarded and a median of $109,499, which is 1.23x the national median for that field.

Social Work is the university's best nationally ranked program, earning #3 in its field in the Azimuth rankings and #2 in California, with 43 degrees awarded. Psychology is the second-largest program, with 536 degrees awarded and median earnings of $48,326, ranking #157 nationally.

The earnings scenarios reveal a range from $44,540 on the downside to $68,882 on the upside, reflecting the variation across the university's program mix. The highest-earning programs show what is possible at the upper end: Nursing completers earn a median of $109,499 four years after completion, while Computer Engineering completers earn $92,492.

Among larger programs, Business Administration and Management awards 686 degrees and shows median earnings of $56,361, and Psychology awards 536 degrees with median earnings of $48,326.

Graduates of California State University-San Bernardino earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings strength coincides with an average net price of $4,564, which runs below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The median federal student debt for borrowers who completed is $14,715, below the peer median of $20,076. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $167.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $12,000. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price drops to $2,681, and it stays at $2,680 for the $30,001–$48,000 band.

The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $11,635, and aid covers about 74% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$2,668
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$6,251
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$8,919

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / CSUSB briefing

CSUSB acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

California State University-San Bernardino admits 93.7% of applicants, well above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 14,947 applicants, 14,095 admitted, and 2,162 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
93.7%
25th percentile
890
Median
1000
75th percentile
1130

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / CSUSB briefing

What are the largest majors at CSUSB?[12]

Social Work carries an Azimuth national rank of #3 in its field and #2 in California, with 43 degrees awarded and median earnings of $69,201 four years after completion. Psychology, the second-largest program at 536 degrees awarded, holds a national rank of #157 and reports median earnings of $48,326.

Nursing is the highest-earning field, with a median of $109,499 and 117 degrees awarded. Business Administration and Management, the largest program by degrees awarded at 686, shows a more moderate median of $56,361.

Azimuth ranks 22 bachelor's programs at California State University-San Bernardino. Social Work is ranked #3 nationally in its field and #2 in California, with 43 degrees awarded and median earnings of $69,201 four years after completion.

The university publishes earnings data for 29 programs. Among the largest, Business Administration and Management awarded 686 degrees and its completers earned a median of $56,361 four years after graduating.

California State University-San Bernardino awards bachelor's degrees across 29 programs with published four-year earnings data, and 22 hold an Azimuth national rank. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 18.1% of degrees awarded, followed by Psychology at 14.1% and Social Sciences at 9.7%.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 686 degrees awarded, with Psychology next at 536 and Sociology at 277. The highest-ranked program is Social Work, which awards 43 degrees a year and ranks #2 in California within its field.

Nursing ranks #49 nationally and #24 in California within its field. The highest-earning program is Nursing, where graduates earn $109,499 four years out, from 117 degrees awarded.

Computer Engineering follows at $92,492, with 33 degrees awarded. Computer Science graduates earn $74,845 from 79 degrees a year.

The pattern is one of concentrated strength in a few fields alongside broad access across many. The largest programs are in business and the social sciences, while the highest earnings come from nursing and computing, fields that award far fewer degrees. Across all programs, 15.8% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 686 degrees awarded
$56,361
Psychology, General 536 degrees awarded
$48,326
Sociology 277 degrees awarded
$48,954
Criminal Justice and Corrections 238 degrees awarded
$54,275
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 223 degrees awarded
$52,799
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 205 degrees awarded
$54,944

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / CSUSB briefing

How does CSUSB serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks the university #38 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 97th percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 54.9%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 64.0%, above the overall rate by 9.1 percentage points. Graduates earn about $8,919 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 81st percentile nationally.

California State University-San Bernardino enrolls 15,023 undergraduates and admits 93.7% of applicants, well above the peer median of 78.1%. An estimated 53.5% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.

Pell Grant recipients make up 57.6% of the undergraduate body, contributing to an access pillar that Azimuth places in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / CSUSB briefing

What colleges are similar to CSUSB?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with CSUSB.

Admissions peerCalifornia State University-Dominguez Hills93.3% admitted
Comparison with CSUSB
MeasureCSUSBCalifornia State University-Dominguez Hills
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,441$58,922+$3,481 vs CSUSB
Average annual net price$4,564$8,615+$4,051 vs CSUSB · higher cost
Admission rate93.7%93.3%
Explore California State University-Dominguez Hills →
Nearby alternativeCalifornia State University-Dominguez HillsNearby option · CA
Comparison with CSUSB
MeasureCSUSBCalifornia State University-Dominguez Hills
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,441$58,922+$3,481 vs CSUSB
Average annual net price$4,564$8,615+$4,051 vs CSUSB · higher cost
Admission rate93.7%93.3%
Explore California State University-Dominguez Hills →
Higher-earnings alternativeCalifornia State University-Fullerton$63,753 earnings
Comparison with CSUSB
MeasureCSUSBCalifornia State University-Fullerton
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,441$63,753+$8,312 vs CSUSB
Average annual net price$4,564$6,555+$1,991 vs CSUSB · higher cost
Admission rate93.7%90.5%
Explore California State University-Fullerton →
Lower-cost alternativeSan Diego Christian College$992 average net price
Comparison with CSUSB
MeasureCSUSBSan Diego Christian College
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,441$50,741-$4,700 vs CSUSB
Average annual net price$4,564$992-$3,572 vs CSUSB · lower cost
Admission rate93.7%30.8%
Similar profileCalifornia State University-Dominguez HillsMatched across several measures
Comparison with CSUSB
MeasureCSUSBCalifornia State University-Dominguez Hills
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,441$58,922+$3,481 vs CSUSB
Average annual net price$4,564$8,615+$4,051 vs CSUSB · higher cost
Admission rate93.7%93.3%
Explore California State University-Dominguez Hills →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

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

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

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings