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

Is a Finance and Financial Management Services degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 428 colleges (428 of 428 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$48,566

Graduates only, early career.$50,137 two years out.

Median federal debt

$21,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.45×

45% 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 Finance and Financial Management Services report early-career pay between $44,042 and $53,059 — a spread of $9,017 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $44,042 median $48,566 75th pct $53,059

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 428 colleges $48,566 $21,500 0.45×

Master's 72 colleges $72,165 $40,450 0.54×

Grad cert. 3 colleges $85,403 — —

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 Pennsylvania PA $118,578 $12,999 debt

University of Notre Dame IN $84,618 $19,000 debt

Georgetown University DC $84,438 $15,750 debt

Washington University in St Louis MO $83,311 $19,500 debt

Boston College MA $74,320 $18,000 debt

Wake Forest University NC $73,169 $19,500 debt

Villanova University PA $72,757 $26,000 debt

Howard University DC $72,085 $20,197 debt

Lehigh University PA $71,409 $23,250 debt

Fordham University NY $70,465 $26,870 debt

The University of Texas at Austin TX $69,505 $20,500 debt

Santa Clara University CA $68,821 $14,490 debt

Brigham Young University UT $68,789 $11,625 debt

Syracuse University NY $68,264 $27,000 debt

George Washington University DC $67,909 $18,148 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Finance and Financial Management Services, 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