---
title: Is a Legal Professions and Studies, Other degree worth the debt?
cip: 2299
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 Legal Professions and Studies, Other degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **10** colleges (10 of 10 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $33,291 ($36,560 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $26,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.71× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $31,831–$36,683 — 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 | $33,291 | $26,500 | 0.71× | 10 | 10/10 |
| Master's | $47,830 | $46,786 | 0.92× | 10 | 10/10 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Drexel University (PA) | $51,005 | — |
| Temple University (PA) | $41,249 | $26,000 |
| Berkeley College-Woodland Park (NJ) | $37,567 | $27,000 |
| Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ) | $34,032 | — |
| Montclair State University (NJ) | $33,618 | $23,875 |
| Ball State University (IN) | $32,964 | $27,000 |
| Central Penn College (PA) | $32,472 | — |
| Berkeley College-New York (NY) | $31,617 | $33,547 |
| University of Arizona (AZ) | $29,190 | $20,396 |
| Humphreys University (CA) | $25,776 | — |

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/legal-professions-and-studies-other.jsonld` · `/education/fields/legal-professions-and-studies-other.json`