---
title: Is a Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies degree worth the debt?
cip: 1904
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 Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **19** colleges (19 of 19 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $34,575 ($36,401 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,594 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.62× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $29,892–$40,892 — 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 | $34,575 | $20,594 | 0.62× | 19 | 19/19 |
| Master's | $40,368 | $30,492 | 0.72× | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| University of Utah (UT) | $47,195 | — |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $45,136 | $27,000 |
| University of Missouri-Columbia (MO) | $43,998 | $27,000 |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville (TN) | $42,988 | $18,500 |
| University of Georgia (GA) | $41,613 | $18,750 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $40,172 | $20,645 |
| The University of Alabama (AL) | $39,629 | $22,477 |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $37,468 | $16,029 |
| South Dakota State University (SD) | $37,450 | $21,852 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MN) | $34,575 | $17,851 |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion (AZ) | $31,703 | $20,000 |
| Arizona State University Digital Immersion (AZ) | $31,703 | $20,000 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $30,224 | $19,349 |
| Virginia State University (VA) | $30,141 | $28,500 |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE) | $29,642 | $20,544 |

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/family-and-consumer-economics-and-related-studies.jsonld` · `/education/fields/family-and-consumer-economics-and-related-studies.json`