---
title: Is a Plant Sciences degree worth the debt?
cip: 0111
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 Plant Sciences degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **49** colleges (49 of 49 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $36,397 ($36,222 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $17,924 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.48× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $32,102–$41,299 — 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 | $36,397 | $17,924 | 0.48× | 49 | 49/49 |
| Master's | $60,176 | — | — | 6 | 6/6 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| California State University-Fresno (CA) | $53,293 | $11,731 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $50,514 | $15,000 |
| South Dakota State University (SD) | $50,213 | $22,125 |
| University of Minnesota-Crookston (MN) | $49,078 | $19,763 |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln (NE) | $45,313 | $18,875 |
| University of Wisconsin-Platteville (WI) | $45,159 | $15,250 |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $44,779 | $17,039 |
| University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI) | $44,131 | $19,000 |
| California State University-Chico (CA) | $43,556 | $13,826 |
| Washington State University (WA) | $43,410 | $15,828 |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $42,883 | $21,500 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $42,469 | $17,249 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $41,299 | $18,281 |
| SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill (NY) | $37,927 | — |
| University of Missouri-Columbia (MO) | $37,618 | $17,924 |

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