Education Atlas

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

Is an Agriculture, General degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 42 colleges (42 of 42 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after
$35,083

Graduates only, early career.$33,281 two years out.

Median federal debt
$19,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay
0.58×

58% of a first year's earnings.

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

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Agriculture, General report early-career pay between $29,750 and $40,407 — a spread of $10,657 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $29,750 median $35,083 75th pct $40,407

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay
Associate's 3 colleges $32,578 $12,375 0.34×
Bachelor's 42 colleges $35,083 $19,500 0.58×
Master's 5 colleges $51,520 $26,602 0.44×

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

The 15 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.

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $51,124 $17,375 debt
Sam Houston State University TX $46,663 $19,125 debt
South Dakota State University SD $43,717 $19,500 debt
Texas State University TX $42,354 $21,469 debt
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale IL $41,596 $15,000 debt
Illinois State University IL $41,426 $15,750 debt
Cornell University NY $41,224 $13,109 debt
Texas Tech University TX $40,784 $25,000 debt
Western Illinois University IL $40,735 $17,062 debt
Oregon State University OR $39,422 $23,500 debt
Oregon State University-Cascades Campus OR $39,422 $23,500 debt
Northwest Missouri State University MO $38,158 $17,250 debt
Texas A&M University-Kingsville TX $37,821 $22,750 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Agriculture, General, 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