Best Life programs in California, ranked by enrollment
All life, physical, and social science technicians not listed.
64 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 5,735 people a year. The job pays a median of $78,350 in California across about 10,090 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.
7 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 43.0104In California → | 3,860 | 67.3% | 26 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 2 | CIP 45.0401In California → | 1,142 | 19.9% | 14 | $37,366 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 43.0406In California → | 504 | 8.8% | 22 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 4 | CIP 40.1001In California → | 171 | 3.0% | 6 | $72,216 | $24,750 |
| 5 | CIP 40.0401In California → | 48 | 0.8% | 4 | $41,430 | $25,500 |
| 6 | CIP 41.9999In California → | 8 | 0.1% | 2 | $49,936 | $22,636 |
| 7 | CIP 43.0100In California → | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 21 of the 64 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 562 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $33,261 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 2 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 473 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $38,606 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 3 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 384 | Criminology | $34,522 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 4 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 366 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $32,974 | 53% | — | 91% |
| 5 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 337 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $34,870 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 6 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 304 | Criminology | $31,224 | 57% | — | 95% |
| 7 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 302 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $34,247 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 8 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 299 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 9 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 298 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $34,570 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 10 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 217 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $35,029 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 11 | California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 202 | Criminology | $34,694 | 55% | — | 95% |
| 12 | California State University - Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 171 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $36,092 | 43% | — | 93% |
| 13 | California State University - Stanislaus Turlock, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 170 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $34,806 | 53% | — | 98% |
| 14 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 170 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $42,211 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 15 | California State University - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 149 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 50% | — | 94% |
| 16 | California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 117 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $45,387 | 48% | — | 97% |
| 17 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 106 | Materials Science | — | 93% | — | 11% |
| 18 | East Los Angeles College Monterey Park, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 104 | Forensic Science and Technology | — | 37% | — | — |
| 19 | California State University - Chico Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $36,045 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 20 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 96 | Forensic Science and Technology | — | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 21 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Criminology | — | 68% | — | 75% |
| 22 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 23 | University of La Verne La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 52 | Criminology | $34,292 | 63% | $45,461 | 71% |
| 24 | Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $38,444 | 58% | — | 93% |
| 25 | Grossmont College El Cajon, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Forensic Science and Technology | — | 37% | — | — |
All 64 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 562 | 2 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 473 | 1 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 384 | 2 |
| California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 366 | 2 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 337 | 1 |
| California State University - Fresno | Fresno | Public | 304 | 1 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 302 | 1 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 299 | 4 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 298 | 1 |
| California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Public | 217 | 1 |
| California State University - San Marcos | San Marcos | Public | 202 | 1 |
| California State University - Dominguez Hills | Carson | Public | 171 | 1 |
| California State University - Stanislaus | Turlock | Public | 170 | 1 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | Public | 170 | 1 |
| California State University - Bakersfield | Bakersfield | Public | 149 | 1 |
What life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,280. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other page.
How to become a Life
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 12 majors mapped to Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 40.0401Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General
- 40.1001Materials Science
- 40.1002Materials Chemistry
- 41.0000Science Technologies/Technicians, General
- 41.0303Chemical Process Technology
- 41.0399Physical Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
- 41.9999Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
- 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
- 43.0402Criminalistics and Criminal Science
- 43.0406Forensic Science and Technology
- 45.0401Criminology
Common questions
Answers for people weighing life, physical, and social science technicians, all other programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Life?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 3,860 degrees in California in 2024-25, 67.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Life?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Criminology, Security Science and Technology, Materials Sciences, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 5,735 people a year in California.
How much do life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in California?+
The median is $78,350 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 25.8% above the U.S. median of $62,280. 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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
64 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Associate, Geospatial Extractor, Meteorologist Liaison, Lab Technician (Lab Tech), Digital Cartographic Technician, Quality Control Technician (QC Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4099.
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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