---
title: Is a Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences degree worth the debt?
cip: 2604
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 a Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **37** colleges (37 of 37 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $29,218 ($31,844 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $19,378 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.68× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $27,118–$34,145 — 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 | $29,218 | $19,378 | 0.68× | 37 | 37/37 |
| Master's | $40,705 | $63,628 | 2.02× | 3 | 3/3 |
| Doctoral | $57,424 | — | — | 4 | 4/4 |

## Where a 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Harvard University (MA) | $43,328 | — |
| CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NY) | $39,303 | — |
| University of Rhode Island (RI) | $38,841 | $25,000 |
| California State University-San Marcos (CA) | $37,173 | $19,462 |
| San Francisco State University (CA) | $36,145 | $19,000 |
| University of California-Berkeley (CA) | $35,329 | $13,450 |
| Seattle University (WA) | $35,245 | — |
| Illinois State University (IL) | $34,567 | $22,500 |
| University of California-Santa Cruz (CA) | $34,270 | $18,534 |
| University of Colorado Boulder (CO) | $34,145 | $15,500 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $33,381 | $13,530 |
| Western Washington University (WA) | $33,140 | $16,582 |
| University of Minnesota-Duluth (MN) | $32,522 | $25,176 |
| University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) | $31,869 | $27,250 |
| Binghamton University (NY) | $31,181 | $16,875 |

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/cell-cellular-biology-and-anatomical-sciences.jsonld` · `/education/fields/cell-cellular-biology-and-anatomical-sciences.json`