Education Atlas

College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is an Agricultural Mechanization degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 11 colleges (11 of 11 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after
$51,141

Graduates only, early career.$49,436 two years out.

Median federal debt
$19,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay
0.38×

38% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well under a single year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Agricultural Mechanization report early-career pay between $44,614 and $54,468 — a spread of $9,854 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $44,614 median $51,141 75th pct $54,468

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay
Associate's 9 colleges $42,853 $12,500 0.25×
Bachelor's 11 colleges $51,141 $19,500 0.38×

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

The 11 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Iowa State University IA $57,856 $19,500 debt
South Dakota State University SD $54,155 $22,000 debt
Purdue University-Main Campus IN $51,820 $19,727 debt
Kansas State University KS $51,141 $19,344 debt
University of Missouri-Columbia MO $48,353 $19,334 debt
University of Nebraska-Lincoln NE $44,371 $23,500 debt
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez PR $24,777 $9,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Agricultural Mechanization, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard