---
title: Is a City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning degree worth the debt?
cip: 0403
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 City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **15** colleges (15 of 15 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $39,952 ($37,928 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,444 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.55× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $38,007–$43,762 — 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 | $39,952 | $23,444 | 0.55× | 15 | 15/15 |
| Master's | $53,446 | $41,000 | 0.77× | 39 | 39/39 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $53,484 | $19,334 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $50,497 | $15,000 |
| Florida Atlantic University (FL) | $44,273 | $21,114 |
| University of Southern California (CA) | $44,115 | — |
| University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (OH) | $43,408 | $25,464 |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion (AZ) | $42,323 | $23,444 |
| Arizona State University Digital Immersion (AZ) | $42,323 | $23,444 |
| University of Arizona (AZ) | $39,952 | $24,863 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $39,577 | — |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $39,426 | $24,250 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $38,233 | $24,000 |
| Cornell University (NY) | $37,781 | $12,952 |
| Westfield State University (MA) | $37,435 | $23,628 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $36,967 | $17,720 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $36,774 | $20,792 |

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/city-urban-community-and-regional-planning.jsonld` · `/education/fields/city-urban-community-and-regional-planning.json`