This article has been updated to reflect 2026 data and recent developments.
Students entering the California Community College system now have another tool to help them choose a degree program and motivate them to complete that program. Through an online tool, California students are able to see how much they can earn with the various degrees offered through their school. The tool was originally unveiled by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.
Introducing Salary Surfer
The website, dubbed Salary Surfer, allows students to track a person’s potential salary in California for five years after earning a two-year degree or certificate. The site uses data from graduates across the state to compile significant information that can help students choose the best degree program for them. Salary Surfer provides comparative earnings information for graduates of California community college programs, using aggregated earnings from a five-year period to estimate potential wages two and five years after receiving a certificate or degree.
The website does not include data on students that transfer to four-year institutions. It does not have information on federal employees or self-employed graduates. Graduates that move out of state are also not included in the salary averages listed at Salary Surfer.
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office continues to list Salary Surfer among its data tools. The website tracks average annual salaries for the various programs two years after graduation, and again five years after graduation. Students can see how much they might expect to make in their discipline and compare that to what they were making prior to graduation. They can also see the type of growth potential they can expect from their chosen field.
This video shows how Salary Surfer works in the accounting field.
Comparing Earning Potential
In addition to showing the general value of a community college education, Salary Surfer can also help guide students into the right degree program based on the earning potential of individual degrees and certificates. It doesn’t take long perusing the Salary Surfer tool to discover that value can vary greatly from field to field. For example, students who earn an associate degree in nursing may see an above-average entry salary grow significantly over the first five years. At the same time, earning potential can vary considerably among other fields and programs.
When a student goes into the Salary Surfer website, he will have the choice of entering a number of different field options, from agriculture and natural studies to engineering and technology. Many basic disciplines are included in the tracker as well, such as:
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
- Business and Management
- Computer and Information Science
- Fine and Applied Arts
- Education
- Health
- Communications
A number of sciences are also included in the mix, including physical, biological, and environmental science. Once the student chooses a discipline, a new window appears with the many degree specializations in that field. In some cases, there might be a relatively small number of degree programs under a heading, such as foreign language or biological sciences. Others, like health, business, and computer science, may have much longer lists of specialties.
This video complements the Salary Surfer data in the agricultural field.
Tracking for Seven Years
For each specialty, the Salary Surfer tool offers three salary amounts. The first is what students earned two years prior to earning an associate degree or certificate in their field. The next shows the median annual salary two years after completion of the program, and the third shows the median annual income five years from the completion date. Salary Surfer uses aggregated earnings of graduates over a five-year period to calculate these estimates.
The tool provides valuable information not only about the value of a community college degree in general but the earning potential for various fields of study students might be considering. This information could be a deciding factor for some students who are on the fence between two or more similar fields and unsure which specific path to follow.
“While future earnings should not be a sole determiner in choosing an educational program, students and the public deserve to know what monetary return they can expect on their investment,” Chancellor Harris told U.S. News.
This video complements the solar energy program in the California Community Colleges.
Salary Surfer is another component that can be used to improve completion rates at community colleges across the state. In 2013, the California Community College system launched its first “Student Success Scorecard,” which provided valuable information about individual community colleges in the state. The information told students which schools had the highest completion and transfer rates, in addition to other pertinent data about individual schools. Today, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office provides additional data resources tracking student progress, credential attainment, employment outcomes, and labor market information, giving students and colleges more complete information about the community college experience to promote greater student success across the state.
The main statistical changes are confined to the original paragraphs containing old Salary Surfer earnings figures. I removed the outdated $54,000, $90,000, and 45% figures rather than presenting 2013 figures as current 2026 statistics, because the current Chancellor's Office tools now report program-specific earnings rather than one directly comparable statewide percentage. The current data system tracks median annual earnings after exit, changes in earnings, living-wage attainment, and earnings three and five years after exit.
