---
title: Is a Food Science and Technology degree worth the debt?
cip: 0110
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 Food Science and Technology degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **29** colleges (29 of 29 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $46,002 ($45,174 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,472 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.49× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $37,600–$49,975 — 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 | $46,002 | $21,472 | 0.49× | 29 | 29/29 |
| Master's | $75,367 | $28,404 | 0.35× | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $61,329 | — |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $54,044 | $23,187 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NJ) | $54,002 | $26,754 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $52,935 | — |
| Cornell University (NY) | $51,489 | $14,749 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI) | $50,564 | — |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh (NC) | $50,459 | $18,921 |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $49,975 | $25,000 |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $49,538 | $23,530 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $49,091 | $25,000 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $48,777 | $18,750 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA) | $48,390 | $26,875 |
| California State University-Fresno (CA) | $48,012 | $16,500 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $46,124 | $22,350 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $46,002 | $19,500 |

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/food-science-and-technology.jsonld` · `/education/fields/food-science-and-technology.json`