Bachelor's · Santa Cruz, California
Is Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services at University of California-Santa Cruz worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 9.1 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $31,803
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $53,451
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $15,543
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $79k (likely $79k – $99k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $14k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 9.1 years (likely 7.6–11.9)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- −$145k (likely −$203k – −$105k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $37k (likely −$69k – $151k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 74%
- 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 Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services at other schools
🌍 Getting ready in high school
Students heading toward languages & cultures majors like this one often take these classes. Every school offers a different mix, so check with your counselor.
AP classes
- AP Spanish Language and Culture (or French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Latin)
- AP World History: Modern
- AP Human Geography
IB Higher Level
- Language B HL
- History HL or Geography HL
Build my roadmap 🗺️ Middle school to career, plus high schools near you that offer these classes.
Other majors at University of California-Santa Cruz
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$124,641
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$123,422
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's)$118,290
- Economics (Master's)$110,425
- Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's)$98,567
- Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management (Bachelor's)$94,589
- Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's)$88,305
- Business/Managerial Economics (Bachelor's)$82,064
- Economics (Bachelor's)$76,382
- Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology (Bachelor's)$74,517
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (Master's)$73,343
- Physics (Bachelor's)$72,553
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services at other schools in California
- University of California-Berkeley$76,724
- University of California-Los Angeles$62,927
- University of California-Santa Barbara$61,580
- University of California-Davis$58,443
- University of California-San Diego$55,776
- California State University-San Bernardino$49,732
- San Francisco State University$48,959
- University of California-Riverside$46,306
- San Diego State University$42,922
- California State University-Long Beach$38,996