---
title: Is an Anthropology degree worth the debt?
cip: 4502
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 Anthropology degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **169** colleges (169 of 169 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $25,236 ($25,194 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.81× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $22,549–$27,937 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $25,236 | $20,500 | 0.81× | 169 | 169/169 |
| Master's | $39,560 | $33,251 | 0.95× | 8 | 8/8 |
| Doctoral | $49,444 | — | — | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dartmouth College (NH) | $44,153 | $14,363 |
| George Washington University (DC) | $36,176 | $26,000 |
| University of Louisville (KY) | $34,929 | $19,860 |
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus (CO) | $34,459 | $24,116 |
| San Francisco State University (CA) | $34,390 | $16,500 |
| Sonoma State University (CA) | $32,634 | $17,614 |
| Monmouth University (NJ) | $32,481 | $24,000 |
| Millersville University of Pennsylvania (PA) | $32,083 | — |
| James Madison University (VA) | $32,082 | $20,500 |
| Hamline University (MN) | $31,770 | $27,000 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI) | $31,599 | $16,166 |
| University of California-Los Angeles (CA) | $31,197 | $14,579 |
| University of Massachusetts-Boston (MA) | $31,140 | $22,750 |
| Boise State University (ID) | $30,855 | $25,475 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $30,755 | $11,715 |

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/anthropology.jsonld` · `/education/fields/anthropology.json`