---
title: Is a Gerontology degree worth the debt?
cip: 3011
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 Gerontology degree worth the debt?

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

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $33,387 ($33,397 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $25,491 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.79× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $32,043–$33,905 — 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 | $33,387 | $25,491 | 0.79× | 9 | 9/9 |
| Master's | $40,828 | $50,537 | 1.16× | 5 | 5/5 |

## 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 Northern Iowa (IA) | $56,361 | — |
| The University of Arizona Global Campus (AZ) | $34,233 | $28,750 |
| Pennsylvania Western University (PA) | $33,905 | — |
| Western Oregon University (OR) | $33,454 | — |
| University of Nebraska at Omaha (NE) | $33,387 | — |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $32,287 | $24,083 |
| California State University-Sacramento (CA) | $32,043 | $19,831 |
| Bowling Green State University-Main Campus (OH) | $28,599 | $26,899 |
| University of South Florida (FL) | $24,858 | — |

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/gerontology.jsonld` · `/education/fields/gerontology.json`