🎓 College profile
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Large city · 13,950 applicants 2023
🎯 Parent/student verdict
LikelyAccessible for most applicants. Affordable on average — net price runs around $5,652/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.
✅ Best for
- In-state residents (tuition ~$8,090 — major value play)
- Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Liberal Arts, Humanities, & General Studies (the two biggest majors)
🎯 The reality
- Out-of-state tuition is 2.6× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 True ROI
26.1× returnWhat families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.
"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).
💰 What families actually pay
Net price by family income
Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At California State University-Bakersfield, the average net price is $5,652/yr across all families.
🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use California State University-Bakersfield's official Net Price Calculator:
Get your family's estimate from California State University-Bakersfield →Opens on California State University-Bakersfield's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.
Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at California State University-Bakersfield
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what California State University-Bakersfield actually graduates — not just what it markets.
Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.
💼 Top programs by earnings
Highest-earning majors at California State University-Bakersfield
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.
| Major (CIP) | Credential | Cohort | 1-yr earnings | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | 101 | — | $102,298 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 30 | — | $97,998 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 15 | — | $93,797 |
| Engineering Science. | Bachelor's Degree | 42 | — | $88,948 |
| Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. | Bachelor's Degree | 9 | — | $82,315 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | 54 | — | $80,432 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | 16 | — | $78,029 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | 11 | — | $69,989 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | 42 | — | $64,470 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | 351 | — | $61,705 |
For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at California State University-Bakersfield
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
⚖️ Compare side-by-side
California State University-Bakersfield vs. another college
Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.
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