Best Atmospheric programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in the physical sciences, except chemistry and physics.
82 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,301 people a year. The job pays a median of $133,230 in California across about 1,410 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
17 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 40.0601In California → | 707 | 54.3% | 68 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 2 | CIP 40.0202In California → | 141 | 10.8% | 4 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 3 | CIP 40.0607In California → | 108 | 8.3% | 7 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 4 | CIP 40.0699In California → | 86 | 6.6% | 11 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 5 | CIP 40.0201In California → | 71 | 5.5% | 16 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 6 | CIP 40.0401In California → | 48 | 3.7% | 4 | $41,430 | $25,500 |
| 7 | CIP 40.0603In California → | 38 | 2.9% | 7 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 8 | CIP 13.1316In California → | 25 | 1.9% | 5 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 9 | CIP 40.0605In California → | 18 | 1.4% | 3 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 10 | CIP 40.0299In California → | 14 | 1.1% | 1 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 11 | CIP 40.0499In California → | 10 | 0.8% | 1 | $41,430 | $25,500 |
| 12 | CIP 40.0203In California → | 9 | 0.7% | 3 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 13 | CIP 40.0602In California → | 9 | 0.7% | 2 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 14 | CIP 40.1101In California → | 9 | 0.7% | 2 | — | — |
| 15 | CIP 40.0404In California → | 4 | 0.3% | 1 | $41,430 | $25,500 |
| 16 | CIP 30.4101In California → | 3 | 0.2% | 1 | — | — |
| 17 | CIP 40.0604In California → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 82 schools in this state.
All 82 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 128 | 5 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 117 | 3 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 96 | 7 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 93 | 3 |
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 92 | 6 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 66 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 61 | 2 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 59 | 4 |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 5 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 41 | 4 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 36 | 3 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 34 | 4 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 30 | 1 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 28 | 2 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 28 | 3 |
What atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $103,170. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Atmospheric
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 24 majors mapped to Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary21 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1316Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
- 13.1337Earth Science Teacher Education
- 30.3501Climate Science
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.5001Mathematics and Atmospheric/Oceanic Science(no graduates reported)
- 40.0201Astronomy
- 40.0202Astrophysics
- 40.0203Planetary Astronomy and Science
- 40.0299Astronomy and Astrophysics, Other
- 40.0401Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General
- 40.0402Atmospheric Chemistry and Climatology
- 40.0403Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics(no graduates reported)
- 40.0404Meteorology
- 40.0499Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other
- 40.0601Geology/Earth Science, General
- 40.0602Geochemistry
- 40.0603Geophysics and Seismology
- 40.0604Paleontology
- 40.0605Hydrology and Water Resources Science
- 40.0606Geochemistry and Petrology(no graduates reported)
- 40.0607Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
- 40.0699Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other
- 40.1101Physics and Astronomy
Common questions
Answers for people weighing atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Atmospheric?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geology/Earth Science, General, which awarded 707 degrees in California in 2024-25, 54.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Atmospheric?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 17 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Teacher Education and Professional Development, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 1,301 people a year in California.
How much do atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary earn in California?+
The median is $133,230 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 29.1% above the U.S. median of $103,170. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
82 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 17 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Geology Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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