---
title: Is an Agriculture, General degree worth the debt?
cip: 0100
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 Agriculture, General degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **42** colleges (42 of 42 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $35,083 ($33,281 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $19,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.58× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $29,750–$40,407 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Associate's | $32,578 | $12,375 | 0.34× | 3 | 3/3 |
| Bachelor's | $35,083 | $19,500 | 0.58× | 42 | 42/42 |
| Master's | $51,520 | $26,602 | 0.44× | 5 | 5/5 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $51,124 | $17,375 |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE) | $48,793 | — |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $47,178 | $21,903 |
| Sam Houston State University (TX) | $46,663 | $19,125 |
| South Dakota State University (SD) | $43,717 | $19,500 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $42,354 | $21,469 |
| Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (IL) | $41,596 | $15,000 |
| Illinois State University (IL) | $41,426 | $15,750 |
| Cornell University (NY) | $41,224 | $13,109 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $40,784 | $25,000 |
| Western Illinois University (IL) | $40,735 | $17,062 |
| Oregon State University (OR) | $39,422 | $23,500 |
| Oregon State University-Cascades Campus (OR) | $39,422 | $23,500 |
| Northwest Missouri State University (MO) | $38,158 | $17,250 |
| Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TX) | $37,821 | $22,750 |

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/agriculture-general.jsonld` · `/education/fields/agriculture-general.json`