Journalism at California Baptist University

California Baptist University's journalism program sits near the bottom of performance benchmarks, ranking in just the 10th percentile nationally and 25th percentile among California schools. Graduates earn $26,026 in their first year—about $5,700 less than the California median and $8,500 below the national average. While debt levels appear manageable at $26,869, that figure equals more than a full year's starting salary, creating immediate financial pressure for graduates entering notoriously underpaid entry-level media positions.

The earnings trajectory shows modest improvement, reaching $30,239 by year four, but this still falls well short of what graduates from USC ($44,651), Cal Poly SLO ($48,637), or even nearby Biola ($41,997) are earning. For context, these starting salaries place graduates below California's poverty line for a family of three, making it difficult to service student loans while covering basic living expenses in the expensive Riverside-Los Angeles media market.

The critical caveat: this data reflects fewer than 30 graduates, so individual outcomes may vary more than usual. Still, for a program costing similar debt to better-performing alternatives, families should carefully weigh whether CBU's specific faith-based environment and smaller class sizes justify the significant earnings gap. If your child is drawn to journalism, exploring California's stronger-performing programs—particularly Cal Poly's public tuition advantage—deserves serious consideration before committing here.