Best colleges for Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services in California
Program-level earnings — not school prestige — rank these. Among the California programs in the federal field-of-study file, University of California-Berkeley leads: its Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services graduates earn a median $76,724 four years after finishing, against the field's $49,984 national median. (Scorecard field-of-study, 2026.)
| # | College | Grad earnings, 4 yrs | Vs field median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California-Berkeley | $76,724 | +$26,740 |
| 2 | University of California-Los Angeles | $62,927 | +$12,943 |
| 3 | University of California-Santa Barbara | $61,580 | +$11,596 |
How big is the earnings gap between California Linguistic programs?
$15,144 separates the top and bottom of this list — $76,724 at University of California-Berkeley against $61,580 at University of California-Santa Barbara, four years after finishing. Same field, same state, same federal measure: where you study moves pay by that much.
Do California Linguistic graduates earn more than the national median?
The state's strongest program pays $26,740 above the $49,984 national median for the field. Program-level medians come from federal tax records of graduates who received aid, so they track actual pay rather than advertised salaries.