Best Loan Officer programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Advise borrowers on financial status and payment methods.
23 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 921 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,770 in California across about 25,790 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.
1 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 52.0801In California → | 921 | 100.0% | 23 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
Top 23 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 23 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 226 | Finance, General | $79,929 | 88% | $44,094 | 48% |
| 2 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 185 | Finance, General | $64,819 | 84% | $26,035 | 52% |
| 3 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 147 | Finance, General | $70,542 | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 4 | University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Finance, General | $64,972 | 70% | $37,121 | 62% |
| 5 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Finance, General | — | 76% | — | 76% |
| 6 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Finance, General | — | 83% | $41,986 | 63% |
| 7 | Menlo College Atherton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Finance, General | $69,684 | 54% | $26,655 | 68% |
| 8 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Finance, General | — | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 9 | Westcliff University Irvine, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Finance, General | — | 62% | $26,754 | 73% |
| 10 | Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Finance, General | — | 77% | $48,795 | 84% |
| 11 | La Sierra University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Finance, General | — | 60% | $26,504 | 91% |
| 12 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Finance, General | — | 62% | $26,940 | 85% |
| 13 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Finance, General | — | 70% | $23,129 | 76% |
| 14 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Finance, General | — | 91% | $22,678 | 10% |
| 15 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Finance, General | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 16 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Finance, General | $48,553 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 17 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Finance, General | $41,467 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 18 | University of La Verne La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Finance, General | — | 63% | $45,461 | 71% |
| 19 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Finance, General | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 20 | Golden Gate University San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Finance, General | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Lincoln University Oakland, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Finance, General | — | 100% | — | — |
| 22 | Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Finance, General | — | 50% | $14,298 | 64% |
| 23 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Finance, General | $53,373 | 76% | — | 36% |
All 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara | Private not-for-profit | 226 | 1 |
| University of San Diego | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 185 | 1 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 147 | 1 |
| University of San Francisco | San Francisco | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 42 | 1 |
| Pepperdine University | Malibu | Private not-for-profit | 40 | 1 |
| Menlo College | Atherton | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 1 |
| National University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| Westcliff University | Irvine | Private for-profit | 29 | 1 |
| Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| La Sierra University | Riverside | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| California Baptist University | Riverside | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Claremont McKenna College | Claremont | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
What loan officers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $76,690. 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 Loan Officers page.
How to become a Loan Officer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational 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 2 majors mapped to Loan Officers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0801Finance, General
- 52.0809Credit Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing loan officers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Loan Officer?+
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, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Loan Officer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services. Together they graduate about 921 people a year in California.
How much do loan officers earn in California?+
The median is $81,770 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.6% above the U.S. median of $76,690. 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 loan officers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 20,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
23 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 loan officers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Loan Officer, Loan Counselor, Commercial Loan Officer, Financial Aid Counselor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2072.
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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