---
title: Is a Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Management degree worth the debt?
cip: 0303
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 Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Management degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **9** colleges (9 of 9 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $27,857 ($29,002 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,250 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.93× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $24,363–$29,135 — 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 | $27,857 | $23,250 | 0.93× | 9 | 9/9 |

## 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 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI) | $33,067 | $19,534 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $29,688 | $24,114 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt (CA) | $29,135 | — |
| Oregon State University (OR) | $27,857 | $26,639 |
| Oregon State University-Cascades Campus (OR) | $27,857 | $26,639 |
| University of Idaho (ID) | $24,509 | — |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MN) | $24,363 | $23,250 |
| Lake Superior State University (MI) | $24,289 | $22,500 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $21,754 | $19,370 |

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/fishing-and-fisheries-sciences-and-management.jsonld` · `/education/fields/fishing-and-fisheries-sciences-and-management.json`