How do career outcomes at the University of San Diego vary by major?

Career outcomes at the University of San Diego do vary a lot by major, and the clearest dividing line is between professionally oriented programs and broader liberal arts majors. At USD, nursing, engineering, business, accounting, and some STEM fields tend to have the most direct first-job pipelines, while majors like psychology, communication, political science, and humanities more often lead to a wider mix of entry-level jobs or graduate school. USD’s location in San Diego also matters because internships and hiring are especially strong in biotech, healthcare, business, education, and nonprofit work.

For business-related majors, students commonly move into finance, accounting, marketing, sales, consulting, and operations roles. Accounting is usually one of the strongest majors for immediate placement because it maps clearly onto internships, CPA-track recruiting, and corporate hiring. Finance and business administration can also place well, but outcomes depend more on internships, networking, and specialization.

Nursing is typically one of the most career-direct majors at USD. Graduates often move straight into registered nursing roles, and the school’s clinical training and healthcare connections support a relatively clear transition into employment. Engineering and computer science also tend to produce solid early-career outcomes, especially for students who build internship experience before graduation.

Biology, chemistry, and related sciences often split between industry jobs and graduate or professional school. Some students go into lab work, biotech, clinical research, or healthcare support roles, while others use these majors as preparation for medical, dental, PA, pharmacy, or graduate programs. Psychology is a common major where many students need graduate study for the field-specific careers they want, even though they can still enter areas like HR, counseling support, marketing, or nonprofit work right after college.

Education majors usually have a clearer path into teaching and credential programs. Political science, international relations, communication, sociology, and English can lead to good outcomes too, but usually through a broader range of roles such as public service, law-related paths, communications, fundraising, media, and administration rather than one standard job track.

So if you are comparing majors by job placement alone, USD’s strongest immediate-outcome majors are usually nursing, accounting, engineering, and other fields with defined professional pipelines. Majors with less direct pipelines are not necessarily weaker, but they usually require more intentional internship planning, graduate school, or career exploration during college.