---
title: Is a Landscape Architecture degree worth the debt?
cip: 0406
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 Landscape Architecture degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **15** colleges (15 of 15 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $46,569 ($48,041 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,583 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.50× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $45,600–$48,426 — 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 | $46,569 | $22,583 | 0.50× | 15 | 15/15 |
| Master's | $56,151 | — | — | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $53,453 | $29,966 |
| University of Florida (FL) | $50,971 | — |
| West Virginia University (WV) | $50,843 | — |
| University of Massachusetts-Amherst (MA) | $48,955 | — |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $47,898 | $29,400 |
| University of Rhode Island (RI) | $47,889 | — |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $47,770 | $23,734 |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion (AZ) | $46,569 | $21,751 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $45,998 | $21,000 |
| University of Georgia (GA) | $45,932 | $21,250 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $45,661 | $18,500 |
| Utah State University (UT) | $45,539 | — |
| University of Maryland-College Park (MD) | $45,481 | — |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $44,172 | $22,583 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NJ) | $38,244 | $27,000 |

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/landscape-architecture.jsonld` · `/education/fields/landscape-architecture.json`