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

Is a Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 113 colleges (113 of 113 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$52,438

Graduates only, early career.$52,107 two years out.

Median federal debt

$23,140

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.43×

43% of a first year's earnings.

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

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods report early-career pay between $47,472 and $58,715 — a spread of $11,243 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $47,472 median $52,438 75th pct $58,715

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 113 colleges $52,438 $23,140 0.43×

Master's 73 colleges $81,069 $38,957 0.42×

Grad cert. 3 colleges $84,965 — —

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.

New York University NY $79,980 $17,250 debt

Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $72,418 $21,500 debt

Lebanon Valley College PA $71,821 $27,000 debt

Bentley University MA $71,445 $25,000 debt

University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $70,478 $22,250 debt

California Lutheran University CA $69,402 $24,728 debt

Purdue University-Main Campus IN $69,207 $18,578 debt

St. John's University-New York NY $68,739 $19,500 debt

University of Maryland-College Park MD $67,675 $14,943 debt

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $67,610 $21,500 debt

University of St Thomas MN $67,265 $18,500 debt

Southern New Hampshire University NH $67,048 $25,079 debt

Maryville University of Saint Louis MO $66,945 $19,692 debt

Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $65,547 $20,500 debt

Boston College MA $64,987 $18,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, 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