Bachelor's · Los Angeles, California
Is Economics at University of California-Los Angeles 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 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $76,720
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $102,514
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $13,000
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $62k (likely $62k – $62k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $63k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 2 years (likely 1.8–2.1)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $369k (likely $315k – $415k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $1.11M (likely $949k – $1.28M)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 93%
- 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 / ≤ 5%
- 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-Los Angeles
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$228,705
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$223,358
- Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's)$216,722
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral)$190,499
- Physics (Doctoral)$178,137
- Law (First professional)$177,968
- Engineering, General (Master's)$177,858
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's)$177,710
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Master's)$174,798
- Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's)$170,827
- Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering (Master's)$151,186
- Materials Engineering (Master's)$146,629
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