Master's · Northridge, California
Is Music at California State University-Northridge worth it?
Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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
- $54,603
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $65,196
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $41,000
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published)
- $43k (likely $43k – $43k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- −$4k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out 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
- −$266k (likely −$356k – −$172k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- −$255k (likely −$456k – −$50k)
- Today's dollars
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- ≤ 20% / ≤ 20%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Music at other schools
Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.
Other majors at California State University-Northridge
- Computer Science (Master's)$178,136
- Manufacturing Engineering (Master's)$129,151
- Engineering-Related Fields (Master's)$126,039
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's)$116,613
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$115,123
- Taxation (Master's)$108,576
- Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Bachelor's)$105,747
- Civil Engineering (Master's)$104,388
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's)$104,065
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's)$101,424
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$101,348
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$101,021
Music at other schools in California
- California State University-Los Angeles$68,967
- San Francisco Conservatory of Music$51,822
- University of California-Los Angeles$45,410
- University of Southern California$45,304
- University of Redlands$44,341
- California State University-Fullerton$37,850
- California State University-Long Beach$32,534
- California Institute of the Arts$29,494