College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is a Cognitive Science degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 16 colleges (16 of 16 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$37,992

Graduates only, early career.$36,681 two years out.

Median federal debt

$18,000

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.42×

42% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well under a single year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Cognitive Science report early-career pay between $32,896 and $43,376 — a spread of $10,480 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $32,896 median $37,992 75th pct $43,376

Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

University of California-Berkeley CA $62,295 $14,589 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $60,724 $18,820 debt

University of Southern California CA $49,368 $18,250 debt

University of California-Los Angeles CA $43,778 $13,000 debt

Tufts University MA $43,242 $18,000 debt

Rice University TX $42,585 $13,000 debt

University of California-San Diego CA $39,060 $17,427 debt

Occidental College CA $38,243 —

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $37,741 $22,000 debt

University of California-Davis CA $36,727 $15,000 debt

Vassar College NY $35,926 —

University of California-Santa Cruz CA $33,286 $18,981 debt

University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $31,726 $15,625 debt

University of California-Merced CA $27,909 $20,105 debt

University of Delaware DE $21,268 $25,334 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Cognitive Science, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard