Social Sciences at University of the Pacific

A bachelor's degree in social sciences from University of the Pacific comes with an estimated debt load of $27,000—substantially higher than the state median of $16,500 for similar programs. When matched against first-year earnings that peer programs in California suggest will be around $35,000, this creates a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.77, which is manageable but far from ideal given the premium you'd be paying over public alternatives.

What makes this harder to assess is that both figures are estimates drawn from comparable programs rather than actual outcomes for Pacific graduates. The earnings estimate comes from the California median across social sciences programs, which means it could be higher or lower depending on Pacific's specific alumni network and career services. However, the debt figure—estimated from national data for similar private universities—aligns with what you'd expect from a private institution charging significantly more than California's public universities.

The real question is whether Pacific's smaller class sizes and selectivity (SAT scores averaging 1303) translate into better career outcomes than the CSU system, where graduates in this field are reporting $36,000 to $39,000 in actual earnings with far less debt. Without concrete data showing Pacific's social sciences graduates outperform those benchmarks, the higher debt burden represents a considerable financial risk, particularly when similar-quality outcomes appear achievable at lower cost elsewhere in the state.