California·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2099

Best Financial Specialist, All Other programs in California, ranked by enrollment

All financial specialists not listed.

35 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,728 people a year. The job pays a median of $80,810 in California across about 14,290 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledInvestigatorPortfolio ManagerForensic AccountantQuantitative AnalystInvestment StrategistQuantitative Equity AnalystCertified Fraud Examiner (CFE)Special Investigations Unit Investigator (SIU Investigator)
Graduates / yr
1,728
in California
Median pay · California
$80,810
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
14,290
people employed
Schools
35
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
69%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,754
per year, IPEDS

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.

4 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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1921
53.3%
23$53,572$23,672
2731
42.3%
12$60,930$21,143
375
4.3%
6$43,506$25,000
41
0.1%
1

Top 25 schools in California

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 35 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
249Financial Mathematics$71,62292%$26,87310%
2Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
226Finance, General$79,92988%$44,09448%
3University of San Diego
San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
220Finance, General$64,81984%$26,03552%
4Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
147Finance, General$70,54279%$36,48845%
5University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
144Financial Mathematics$42,85986%27%
6University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
112Financial Mathematics87%29%
7University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
83Financial Mathematics$71,81493%11%
8Golden Gate University
San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
69Financial Mathematics
9Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
67Finance, General83%$41,98663%
10Westcliff University
Irvine, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
46Finance, General62%$26,75473%
11University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
45Finance, General$64,97270%$37,12162%
12University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
43Financial Mathematics$61,18893%9%
13University of California - Riverside
Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
42Finance, General76%76%
14Menlo College
Atherton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Finance, General$69,68454%$26,65568%
15National University
San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
32Finance, General43%$31,817
16Point Loma Nazarene University
San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
26Finance, General77%$48,79584%
17La Sierra University
Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Finance, General60%$26,50491%
18University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Financial Mathematics69%$23,96471%
19California Baptist University
Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Finance, General62%$26,94085%
20California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Finance, General70%$23,12976%
21Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Finance, General91%$22,67810%
22Saint Mary's College of California
Moraga, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Financial Mathematics70%$25,57887%
23California State University - Northridge
Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Finance, General$48,55357%93%
24California State University - San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Finance, General$41,46755%94%
25University of La Verne
La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Finance, General63%$45,46171%

All 35 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.

All schools in California that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesPrivate not-for-profit2493
Santa Clara UniversitySanta ClaraPrivate not-for-profit2261
University of San DiegoSan DiegoPrivate not-for-profit2202
Loyola Marymount UniversityLos AngelesPrivate not-for-profit1471
University of California - San DiegoLa JollaPublic1441
University of California - IrvineIrvinePublic1121
University of California - BerkeleyBerkeleyPublic831
Golden Gate UniversitySan FranciscoPrivate not-for-profit692
Pepperdine UniversityMalibuPrivate not-for-profit672
Westcliff UniversityIrvinePrivate for-profit462
University of San FranciscoSan FranciscoPrivate not-for-profit452
University of California - Los AngelesLos AngelesPublic431
University of California - RiversideRiversidePublic421
Menlo CollegeAthertonPrivate not-for-profit331
National UniversitySan DiegoPrivate not-for-profit321

What financial specialists, all other earn in California

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in California
$80,810
Mean annual
$98,100
Jobs in state
14,290
What the range looks like
10th pct$49,160Median$80,81090th pct$163,120
Versus the national median
-0.4%

U.S. median $81,100. California pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.92×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in California

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
$100,950median
960 jobs
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
$80,840median
4,100 jobs
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$78,410median
2,880 jobs
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
$84,390median
370 jobs
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
$93,840median
360 jobs
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
$89,650median
1,420 jobs
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
$77,380median
100 jobs
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
$78,590median
90 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.1%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,300
137,100 → 141,400
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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 Financial Specialists, All Other page.

How to become a Financial Specialist, All Other

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Bachelor's 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

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingWritingActive Learning

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 4 majors mapped to Financial Specialists, All Other4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 27.0305Financial Mathematics
  • 39.0801Religious Institution Administration and Management
  • 52.0206Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
  • 52.0801Finance, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing financial specialists, all other programs in California.

What degree do you need to become a Financial Specialist, All Other?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 921 degrees in California in 2024-25, 53.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial Specialist, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Religious Institution Administration and Law. Together they graduate about 1,728 people a year in California.

How much do financial specialists, all other earn in California?+

The median is $80,810 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.4% below the U.S. median of $81,100. 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 financial specialists, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+

35 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 financial specialists, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Investigator, Portfolio Manager, Forensic Accountant, Quantitative Analyst, Investment Strategist, Quantitative Equity Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2099.

Financial Specialists, All Other in other statesTexasFloridaOhioNew YorkPennsylvaniaMassachusettsIllinoisNew Jersey

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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