Architecture at University of San Francisco

The small sample size here demands caution, but the pattern is troubling: USF architecture graduates earn roughly $13,000 less in their first year than the typical California architecture graduate, placing them in just the 25th percentile statewide. That's a significant gap in one of the country's most expensive cities, where $37,556 barely covers rent, let alone student loan payments on $27,000 in debt. Cal Poly SLO graduates, by comparison, start at $60,634—a $23,000 premium that compounds year after year.

The 89% earnings jump by year four suggests graduates eventually find their footing, reaching $70,929, which exceeds the state median. But that initial struggle matters enormously when you're trying to establish yourself professionally in San Francisco's brutal cost-of-living environment. Architecture is already a field where you need to pay your dues through lower-paid internships and entry-level positions, and starting further behind than peers from Cal Poly or even Berkeley makes that runway much longer.

With fewer than 30 graduates in this data, these numbers could shift dramatically year to year, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions. But given the clear alternatives within California's public university system—schools that deliver stronger early earnings at similar or lower debt levels—parents should seriously question whether USF's architecture program justifies its private school price tag when the payoff appears both delayed and uncertain.