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

Is a Geography and Cartography degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 107 colleges (107 of 107 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$34,640

Graduates only, early career.$34,847 two years out.

Median federal debt

$20,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.62×

62% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is under a year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Geography and Cartography report early-career pay between $31,228 and $38,640 — a spread of $7,412 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $31,228 median $34,640 75th pct $38,640

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 107 colleges $34,640 $20,500 0.62×

Master's 15 colleges $58,813 $33,037 0.58×

Grad cert. 4 colleges $56,406 $37,476 0.71×

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.

Illinois State University IL $52,886 $16,750 debt

Park University MO $51,761 —

Binghamton University NY $50,425 $20,500 debt

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $47,779 $16,479 debt

George Mason University VA $46,150 $20,500 debt

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College LA $44,642 —

University of Maryland-College Park MD $43,789 $23,250 debt

University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $43,618 $17,501 debt

University of Northern Iowa IA $42,929 —

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville IL $42,843 $18,750 debt

California State University-Northridge CA $41,876 $12,500 debt

University of Northern Colorado CO $41,128 —

California State University-Sacramento CA $40,926 $15,974 debt

University of South Florida FL $40,772 —

Dartmouth College NH $40,623 —

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Geography and Cartography, 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