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Sociology at University of California-Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA · Public · Bachelor's Degree
52 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
56
Optimistic
52
Base Case
46
Pessimistic
Earnings $34,372/yr (-0% vs median)
AI Risk High (42% exposed)
Job Market Very Large (114,800 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Sociology graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $683K $424K $268K
Earnings Multiple (In-State) 11.4x 7.1x 4.5x
Earnings Multiple (Out-of-State) 3.7x 2.3x 1.5x
Viable Career Paths 5 of 5 5 of 5 5 of 5
DegreeWorth Score 56 52 46

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition (In-State)
$59,860
Out-of-state: $182,968
Median Debt at Graduation
$13,500
4.7 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$59,183
72% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Sociology graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 114,800 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Managers, all other $136,550 106,700 +4.5% 47%
Sociologists $101,690 300 +3.6% 54%
Sociology teachers, postsecondary $82,540 1,100 +2.1% 43%
Social sciences teachers, postsecondary, all other $75,040 1,500 +1.7% 0%
Social science research assistants $58,040 5,200 +4.4% 67%

Compare & Explore

Sociology at Other Schools

Dartmouth College ($64,377) Columbia University in the City of New York ($58,541) Santa Clara University ($53,612) Colgate University ($51,788) Trinity College ($50,077) King's College ($48,529) Barnard College ($48,215) Boston College ($48,091)

Other Majors at University of California-Santa Barbara

Computer Science ($107,776) Computer Engineering ($91,387) Mechanical Engineering ($81,108) Chemical Engineering ($79,737) Economics ($66,334) Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods ($66,099) Applied Mathematics ($59,638) Statistics ($55,110)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Sociology at University of California-Santa Barbara?
This program scores 52/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 56 (optimistic) to 46 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Sociology career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Sociology graduates retain 5 of 5 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $267,977 (pessimistic) to $682,744 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Sociology graduates?
The career paths mapped to Sociology have roughly 114,800 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a very large job market.
Is Sociology at University of California-Santa Barbara worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 7.1x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 4.5x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.