Bachelor's · Irvine, California
Is Economics at University of California-Irvine worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.5 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $54,120
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $90,159
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $11,253
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $59k (likely $59k – $69k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $50k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 2.5 years (likely 2.2–3.0)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $237k (likely $157k – $309k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $839k (likely $649k – $1.03M)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 87%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 10%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Economics at other schools
📈 Getting ready in high school
Students heading toward business & money majors like this one often take these classes. Every school offers a different mix, so check with your counselor.
AP classes
- AP Microeconomics
- AP Macroeconomics
- AP Statistics
- AP Precalculus or AP Calculus AB
IB Higher Level
- Business Management HL
- Economics HL
Build my roadmap 🗺️ Middle school to career, plus high schools near you that offer these classes.
Other majors at University of California-Irvine
- Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's)$215,277
- Computer Science (Master's)$175,922
- Human Computer Interaction (Master's)$175,307
- Law (First professional)$153,307
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$148,411
- Medicine (First professional)$143,530
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$132,357
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's)$128,924
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$127,404
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's)$119,502
- Chemistry (Doctoral)$117,395
- Management Information Systems and Services (Bachelor's)$108,038
Economics at other schools in California
- Claremont McKenna College$146,524
- University of California-Berkeley$135,050
- Santa Clara University$121,307
- Stanford University$112,700
- Pepperdine University$104,943
- Occidental College$103,164
- Northeastern University Oakland$101,423
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$98,927
- University of California-Santa Barbara$98,178
- Pomona College$96,702