Bachelor's · Los Angeles, California
Is Economics at University of Southern California worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.8 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $78,128
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $101,435
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $19,500
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $140k (likely $140k – $181k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $62k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 3.8 years (likely 3.3–4.5)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $248k (likely $150k – $337k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $969k (likely $771k – $1.19M)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 90%
- 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 Southern California
- Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other (Doctoral)$226,049
- Law (First professional)$203,028
- Finance and Financial Management Services (Graduate certificate)$199,110
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$192,897
- Computer Science (Master's)$188,871
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Graduate certificate)$187,852
- Real Estate Development (Master's)$185,174
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$181,250
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Master's)$180,468
- Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (Doctoral)$179,146
- Computer Software and Media Applications (Master's)$179,055
- Systems Engineering (Master's)$178,619
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