CSUMB graduates have lowest average debt in California State University system

CSU Monterey Bay graduates have the lowest average loan debt upon graduation of any of the CSU campuses, says a new study by the Cal State Student Association in partnership with the Institute for College Access and Success. 

The study, titled “CSU at all Costs,” was published in September and looked at data from the 2021-22 academic year. It is the second such study the organizations have done. The first was in 2017, looking at 2015-16 data.

“Bachelor’s degree recipients of all races and ethnicities are less likely to graduate with student debt than they were six years ago,” the study says. But underrepresented minorities and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander students remain more likely to graduate with debt than their white and Asian peers.

Those receiving Federal Pell Grants were less likely to graduate on time than were their peers who did not receive such support. However, at CSUMB, those percentages were the same. 

The data showed the average debt for a graduating CSUMB student was $15,200. The next lowest school was Cal State Long Beach at $16,000. The school with the highest average graduate debt was CSU Maritime Academy with $24,000. Next in line was Cal Poly Humbolt at $19,900. 

A link to the full study can be found here.