---
title: Is an Education, Other degree worth the debt?
cip: 1399
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 Education, Other degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **21** colleges (21 of 21 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $33,472 ($33,726 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,562 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.67× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $27,971–$39,133 — 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 | $33,472 | $23,562 | 0.67× | 21 | 21/21 |
| Master's | $48,592 | $21,238 | 0.47× | 34 | 34/34 |
| Doctoral | $73,250 | $65,532 | 1.01× | 6 | 6/6 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Towson University (MD) | $45,632 | $14,000 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MN) | $42,401 | $17,021 |
| University of Nevada-Reno (NV) | $41,882 | — |
| University of Minnesota-Duluth (MN) | $41,089 | $25,250 |
| Westminster College (PA) | $39,753 | $27,000 |
| Edgewood University (WI) | $39,133 | — |
| Eastern Oregon University (OR) | $37,367 | $24,874 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $36,592 | — |
| St Petersburg College (FL) | $35,226 | $27,072 |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion (AZ) | $33,472 | $22,250 |
| Arizona State University Digital Immersion (AZ) | $33,472 | $22,250 |
| Sonoma State University (CA) | $32,292 | $17,128 |
| University of Central Missouri (MO) | $31,653 | $21,500 |
| California State University-Channel Islands (CA) | $29,499 | $14,467 |
| Gonzaga University (WA) | $29,243 | — |

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/education-other.jsonld` · `/education/fields/education-other.json`