---
title: Is a Finance and Financial Management Services degree worth the debt?
cip: 5208
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 Finance and Financial Management Services degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **428** colleges (428 of 428 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $48,566 ($50,137 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.45× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $44,042–$53,059 — 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 | $48,566 | $21,500 | 0.45× | 428 | 428/428 |
| Master's | $72,165 | $40,450 | 0.54× | 72 | 72/72 |
| Grad cert. | $85,403 | — | — | 3 | 3/3 |

## 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 Pennsylvania (PA) | $118,578 | $12,999 |
| University of Notre Dame (IN) | $84,618 | $19,000 |
| Georgetown University (DC) | $84,438 | $15,750 |
| Washington University in St Louis (MO) | $83,311 | $19,500 |
| Boston College (MA) | $74,320 | $18,000 |
| Wake Forest University (NC) | $73,169 | $19,500 |
| Villanova University (PA) | $72,757 | $26,000 |
| Howard University (DC) | $72,085 | $20,197 |
| Lehigh University (PA) | $71,409 | $23,250 |
| Fordham University (NY) | $70,465 | $26,870 |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $69,505 | $20,500 |
| Santa Clara University (CA) | $68,821 | $14,490 |
| Brigham Young University (UT) | $68,789 | $11,625 |
| Syracuse University (NY) | $68,264 | $27,000 |
| George Washington University (DC) | $67,909 | $18,148 |

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/finance-and-financial-management-services.jsonld` · `/education/fields/finance-and-financial-management-services.json`