Dance at California State University-Long Beach

Cal State Long Beach's dance program shows impressive first-year earnings of $30,686—ranking in the 95th percentile nationally and 80th percentile among California's 26 dance programs. That's nearly $7,000 above the state median and tops even prestigious programs like USC and UCLA. With $20,500 in debt (matching the state median), graduates initially face a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.67.

However, there's a significant caveat beyond the small sample size: earnings drop sharply to $17,572 by year four—a 43% decline. This pattern is unusual and worth investigating. It could reflect dancers transitioning between performance opportunities, pursuing additional training, or shifting career paths. The initial strong earnings suggest the program prepares students well for immediate opportunities, but the sustainability of those earnings remains unclear from this data.

For parents of aspiring dancers, the key question is whether your child can leverage that strong first year into a sustainable career trajectory. The program's ability to place graduates in relatively high-paying early positions is notable, but plan for income volatility that appears to be part of the dance profession itself, not necessarily a program weakness. The modest debt load at least provides some financial flexibility during career development.