---
title: Is a Nutrition Sciences degree worth the debt?
cip: 3019
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 Nutrition Sciences degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **52** colleges (52 of 52 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $29,265 ($30,146 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,102 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.79× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $24,994–$32,260 — 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 | $29,265 | $21,102 | 0.79× | 52 | 52/52 |
| Master's | $48,055 | $48,378 | 1.01× | 20 | 20/20 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| La Salle University (PA) | $43,897 | $26,875 |
| University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (OH) | $39,231 | — |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $37,863 | $19,250 |
| California State University-Chico (CA) | $37,266 | $17,272 |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $36,001 | $21,000 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $35,369 | $21,500 |
| University of Vermont (VT) | $34,168 | $19,500 |
| San Jose State University (CA) | $34,047 | — |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $33,431 | $17,166 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MN) | $32,818 | $20,000 |
| University of Nevada-Reno (NV) | $32,755 | $19,800 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver (CO) | $32,738 | $19,800 |
| University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (WI) | $32,538 | $28,500 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NJ) | $32,168 | $23,124 |
| Bastyr University (WA) | $31,720 | $20,000 |

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/nutrition-sciences.jsonld` · `/education/fields/nutrition-sciences.json`