Bachelor's · Merced, California
Is Computer Engineering at University of California-Merced 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 1.5 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $63,664
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $110,178
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $13,536
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $49k (likely $49k – $64k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $70k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 1.5 years (likely 1.4–1.9)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $440k (likely $360k – $511k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $1.26M (likely $1.08M – $1.46M)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 68%
- 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 / ≤ 20%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Computer Engineering at other schools
Other majors at University of California-Merced
- Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's)$95,040
- Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's)$88,795
- Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (Bachelor's)$83,007
- Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's)$82,156
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's)$68,277
- Economics (Bachelor's)$67,692
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's)$67,444
- Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences (Doctoral)$64,613
- Political Science and Government (Bachelor's)$62,815
- Biology, General (Bachelor's)$59,249
- English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's)$58,623
- Chemistry (Bachelor's)$56,888
Computer Engineering at other schools in California
- University of California-Los Angeles$228,705
- University of Southern California$166,369
- Santa Clara University$163,765
- University of California-San Diego$149,139
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$148,950
- University of California-Davis$145,422
- University of California-Santa Barbara$144,703
- University of California-Irvine$132,357
- University of California-Santa Cruz$124,641
- San Diego State University$116,842