Bachelor's · Thousand Oaks, California
Is Music at California Lutheran University worth it?
Low confidence Low confidence: fewer than 40 graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Graduates typically don't earn back the cost within 20 years, compared with the no-degree baseline.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- Not enough graduates to report
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $34,711
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $22,125
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $112k (likely $112k – $114k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- −$5k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- Not within 20 years in most scenarios
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- −$360k (likely −$422k – −$286k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- −$401k (likely −$532k – −$255k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 69%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Change income, residency or loans Compare Music at other schools
Other majors at California Lutheran University
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$150,979
- Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's)$101,050
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral)$97,243
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's)$95,459
- Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's)$89,573
- Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Doctoral)$87,918
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Bachelor's)$83,310
- Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's)$82,204
- Marketing (Master's)$81,263
- Special Education and Teaching (Master's)$81,041
- Public Administration (Master's)$77,919
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$77,030
Music at other schools in California
- Sonoma State University$65,533
- University of Redlands$59,275
- University of California-San Diego$58,071
- Biola University$50,781
- University of California-Berkeley$49,985
- San Francisco Conservatory of Music$49,186
- University of Silicon Valley$48,360
- California State University-Long Beach$47,831
- University of California-Los Angeles$47,779
- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona$44,910