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

Is an Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 90 colleges (90 of 90 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$29,213

Graduates only, early career.$29,685 two years out.

Median federal debt

$20,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.71×

71% of a first year's earnings.

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

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies report early-career pay between $26,261 and $31,482 — a spread of $5,221 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $26,261 median $29,213 75th pct $31,482

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 90 colleges $29,213 $20,500 0.71×

Master's 4 colleges $52,708 $20,499 0.35×

Where an 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.

Wellesley College MA $50,587 —

Stanford University CA $47,961 —

Columbia University in the City of New York NY $41,618 $19,500 debt

Wheaton College (Massachusetts) MA $39,761 $25,000 debt

CUNY Hunter College NY $39,111 —

University of Maryland-College Park MD $37,951 $16,250 debt

Yale University CT $37,910 $13,107 debt

Amherst College MA $36,896 $18,032 debt

San Francisco State University CA $35,417 $17,303 debt

San Diego State University CA $35,249 $23,080 debt

Brandeis University MA $34,857 $24,226 debt

University of Utah UT $34,734 —

Dartmouth College NH $34,587 $15,157 debt

Metropolitan State University of Denver CO $34,350 $22,285 debt

University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $34,027 $14,100 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies, 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