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

Is a Philosophy degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 72 colleges (72 of 72 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$28,602

Graduates only, early career.$28,598 two years out.

Median federal debt

$19,625

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.68×

68% 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 Philosophy report early-career pay between $25,160 and $33,378 — a spread of $8,218 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $25,160 median $28,602 75th pct $33,378

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.

University of Pennsylvania PA $61,331 $19,000 debt

Boston College MA $51,737 $18,000 debt

Fordham University NY $41,324 $20,500 debt

Chapman University CA $38,923 —

Columbia University in the City of New York NY $38,546 $20,937 debt

University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $38,509 —

Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $36,802 $24,188 debt

Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $36,802 $24,188 debt

University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $36,290 $13,500 debt

University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA $36,290 $13,500 debt

Boston University MA $36,276 $25,375 debt

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $36,042 $14,618 debt

University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $35,717 $21,500 debt

University of California-Davis CA $34,697 $13,000 debt

Wheaton College IL $34,581 $23,685 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

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