Education Atlas

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

Is a Nutrition Sciences degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 52 colleges (52 of 52 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after
$29,265

Graduates only, early career.$30,146 two years out.

Median federal debt
$21,102

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay
0.79×

79% of a first year's earnings.

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

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Nutrition Sciences report early-career pay between $24,994 and $32,260 — a spread of $7,266 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $24,994 median $29,265 75th pct $32,260

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay
Bachelor's 52 colleges $29,265 $21,102 0.79×
Master's 20 colleges $48,055 $48,378 1.01×

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.

La Salle University PA $43,897 $26,875 debt
Texas A&M University-College Station TX $37,863 $19,250 debt
California State University-Chico CA $37,266 $17,272 debt
Kansas State University KS $36,001 $21,000 debt
Texas Tech University TX $35,369 $21,500 debt
University of Vermont VT $34,168 $19,500 debt
San Jose State University CA $34,047
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $32,818 $20,000 debt
University of Nevada-Reno NV $32,755 $19,800 debt
Metropolitan State University of Denver CO $32,738 $19,800 debt
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WI $32,538 $28,500 debt
Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $32,168 $23,124 debt
Bastyr University WA $31,720 $20,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Nutrition Sciences, 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