---
title: Is an Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services degree worth the debt?
cip: 0106
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 Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **12** colleges (12 of 12 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $39,428 ($40,551 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.56× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $34,704–$45,940 — 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 | $33,986 | $13,038 | 0.41× | 10 | 10/10 |
| Bachelor's | $39,428 | $20,500 | 0.56× | 12 | 12/12 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill (NY) | $47,738 | — |
| Brigham Young University (UT) | $47,377 | — |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $45,940 | $25,784 |
| Pennsylvania State University-World Campus (PA) | $45,940 | $25,784 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $40,980 | $18,750 |
| Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (GA) | $40,717 | $20,500 |
| Colorado State University-Fort Collins (CO) | $38,139 | — |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE) | $37,501 | $22,648 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $35,444 | $16,706 |
| University of Rhode Island (RI) | $32,486 | — |
| Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (IL) | $31,941 | — |
| Brigham Young University-Idaho (ID) | $19,478 | $11,999 |

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/applied-horticulture-and-horticultural-business-services.jsonld` · `/education/fields/applied-horticulture-and-horticultural-business-services.json`