---
title: Is an Agricultural Business and Management degree worth the debt?
cip: 0101
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is an Agricultural Business and Management degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **69** colleges (69 of 69 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $43,001 ($42,682 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $17,750 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.41× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $38,770–$46,393 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Certificate | $37,096 | $10,779 | 0.27× | 3 | 3/3 |
| Associate's | $36,598 | $12,000 | 0.33× | 14 | 14/14 |
| Bachelor's | $43,001 | $17,750 | 0.41× | 69 | 69/69 |
| Master's | $60,918 | — | — | 4 | 4/4 |

## Where an Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cornell University (NY) | $78,005 | $12,500 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $55,329 | $16,000 |
| North Dakota State University-Main Campus (ND) | $51,629 | $17,875 |
| University of Delaware (DE) | $51,351 | $20,500 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (IL) | $49,711 | $18,721 |
| Dordt University (IA) | $49,218 | $19,000 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $49,121 | $15,753 |
| California State University-Fresno (CA) | $48,985 | $13,279 |
| University of Missouri-Columbia (MO) | $48,867 | $17,499 |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $48,126 | $21,500 |
| Delaware Valley University (PA) | $47,478 | — |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI) | $47,469 | $12,500 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $47,444 | $26,000 |
| Pennsylvania State University-World Campus (PA) | $47,444 | $26,000 |
| Auburn University (AL) | $47,415 | $20,500 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/agricultural-business-and-management.jsonld` · `/education/fields/agricultural-business-and-management.json`