Pacific Oaks College

Pacific Oaks College's cost of attendance and net-price structure reflect its position as a small, specialized private nonprofit institution. Without access to detailed income-band net-price data in the current payload, affordability assessment relies on debt and repayment capacity metrics.

Median federal student loan debt at graduation is $29,105, and families using Parent PLUS borrow a median of $12,485; private or institutional loans may add further borrowing that falls outside these federal-only figures — see the [Parent PLUS risk framework](/analysis/ou-what-happens-when-parents-borrow-too/) for how household context shapes PLUS decisions. For a graduate at the institution's median four-year earnings of $56,852, median federal debt of $29,105 projects to a monthly payment of about $329 under standard ten-year repayment.

In a downside earnings scenario anchored on lower-earning program clusters, four-year earnings of $51,492 would compress the monthly slack available after baseline living expenses — a pattern worth exploring at the program level rather than the institutional average. For personalized projections across earnings scenarios — including Parent PLUS planning — use [Azimuth's Financial GPS tool](/analysis/financial-gps-framework/).

Graduates of Pacific Oaks College earn median 4-year earnings of $56,852, placing Pacific Oaks College in the 31.6 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure sits below the $57,042 median at comparable institutions (same control and size band).

Graduates earn about $4,579 less than similar students at comparable institutions, placing Pacific Oaks College in the 38.2 percentile for [earnings beyond expectations](/analysis/a-value-added-approach-to-college-outcomes/) among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Pacific Oaks College #855 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Those figures represent lifetime returns relative to CA's no-degree-equivalent earnings baseline of $34,672 — the state median earnings of working adults with only a high school credential in that age cohort. The program mix at Pacific Oaks College is concentrated in Family & Consumer Sciences, which accounts for 42% of degrees awarded under the Education family.

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services represents the highest aggregate-return program by combined cohort scale and earnings, anchoring the institution's financial outcomes story. Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services is the largest program by graduate count (73 graduates), with four-year median earnings of $56,791 and Azimuth ranking it #6 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions [per the program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/).

Teacher Education follows with 61 graduates earning median four-year earnings of $51,865, and Azimuth ranks it #29 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Clinical, Counseling and Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology rounds out the top programs by scale, reflecting the institution's orientation toward human-services and education-adjacent fields where early-career earnings tend to be moderate but career stability is comparatively strong.

Pacific Oaks College concentrates its degree output in Family & Consumer Sciences, a program family oriented toward child development, human services, and community-focused careers. The college serves a focused student body across 3 programs, with 3 programs meeting Azimuth's ranking threshold, and graduates roughly 144 students annually — a boutique scale that shapes both the depth of faculty relationships and the specificity of career pathways available to graduates.

The largest program by graduate count is Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services, with 73 graduates earning median earnings of $56,791 four years after enrollment; Azimuth ranks Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services #6 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Teacher Education follows as the second-largest program with 61 graduates earning $51,865 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks Teacher Education #29 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Clinical, Counseling and Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology rounds out the three most-enrolled programs with 10 graduates, reflecting the college's consistent orientation toward human development and applied social-science fields. Among the highest-earning programs, Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services program graduates 73 students with median earnings of $56,791 four years after enrollment; Azimuth ranks Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services #6 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Teacher Education also delivers strong early-career outcomes, with 61 graduates earning $51,865 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks Teacher Education #29 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Many of these pathways lead into local-labor markets — education, child welfare, and community health — where demand is stable and regionally concentrated, a pattern consistent with the [supply and demand for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) in California's human-services sector.