---
title: Is a Museology/Museum Studies degree worth the debt?
cip: 3014
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 Museology/Museum Studies degree worth the debt?

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

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $37,105 ($36,356 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $48,273 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 1.20× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $34,106–$40,259 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Master's | $37,105 | $48,273 | 1.20× | 10 | 10/10 |

## Where a Master'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 San Francisco (CA) | $47,608 | $43,875 |
| Georgetown University (DC) | $45,234 | $91,096 |
| Johns Hopkins University (MD) | $40,898 | $41,000 |
| Marist University (NY) | $38,343 | — |
| George Washington University (DC) | $37,818 | $52,671 |
| SUNY Oneonta (NY) | $36,392 | $35,599 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $35,038 | $59,702 |
| University of the Arts | $33,796 | — |
| Syracuse University (NY) | $29,631 | — |
| Western Illinois University (IL) | $25,771 | — |

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/museology-museum-studies.jsonld` · `/education/fields/museology-museum-studies.json`