---
title: Is a Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences degree worth the debt?
cip: 4006
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 Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **126** colleges (126 of 126 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $36,150 ($35,416 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,625 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.59× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $33,103–$39,142 — 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 | $36,150 | $21,625 | 0.59× | 126 | 126/126 |
| Master's | $58,235 | $31,204 | 0.40× | 12 | 12/12 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver (PA) | $50,624 | $25,648 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $50,624 | $25,648 |
| Pennsylvania State University-World Campus (PA) | $50,624 | $25,648 |
| Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TX) | $50,004 | — |
| California State University-Long Beach (CA) | $49,915 | — |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $49,680 | $19,375 |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $48,555 | $16,993 |
| California State University-Sacramento (CA) | $45,731 | $15,000 |
| Colorado State University-Fort Collins (CO) | $45,548 | $22,250 |
| University of Wyoming (WY) | $45,124 | $18,960 |
| Brigham Young University-Idaho (ID) | $44,619 | — |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $44,059 | $18,686 |
| Eastern Washington University (WA) | $43,280 | — |
| The University of Texas at Arlington (TX) | $43,213 | $25,000 |
| University of West Georgia (GA) | $42,549 | $22,054 |

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/geological-and-earth-sciences-geosciences.jsonld` · `/education/fields/geological-and-earth-sciences-geosciences.json`