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

Is a Medicine degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Professional, aggregated across 120 colleges (120 of 120 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$58,005

Graduates only, early career.$58,090 two years out.

Median federal debt

$187,714

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

3.28×

328% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well above a first year's pay. Common where the credential needs long, costly graduate training (dentistry, law, medicine) — high pay does not mean a low debt burden.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Professional programs in Medicine report early-career pay between $56,030 and $59,308 — a spread of $3,278 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $56,030 median $58,005 75th pct $59,308

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Doctoral 21 colleges $57,475 $185,650 3.32×

Professional 120 colleges $58,005 $187,714 3.28×

Where a Professional 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.

Stanford University CA $68,238 $71,477 debt

Harvard University MA $65,850 $99,160 debt

Columbia University in the City of New York NY $65,213 $63,865 debt

Cornell University NY $64,777 —

Weill Medical College of Cornell University NY $64,777 —

Yeshiva University NY $64,370 —

Hofstra University NY $64,221 $153,791 debt

University of California-San Francisco CA $63,684 $131,110 debt

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NY $63,553 —

New York University NY $63,315 —

Stony Brook University NY $61,633 $235,558 debt

University of Southern California CA $61,414 $234,702 debt

Boston University MA $61,274 $205,222 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $61,038 $109,430 debt

University of Connecticut CT $60,981 $120,716 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Medicine, 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