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

Is a Psychology, General degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 1,002 colleges (1,002 of 1,002 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$28,532

Graduates only, early career.$29,250 two years out.

Median federal debt

$23,258

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.82×

82% 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 Psychology, General report early-career pay between $25,807 and $31,049 — a spread of $5,242 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $25,807 median $28,532 75th pct $31,049

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Associate's 25 colleges $18,945 $10,000 0.47×

Bachelor's 1,002 colleges $28,532 $23,258 0.82×

Master's 68 colleges $42,928 $40,548 0.93×

Doctoral 31 colleges $66,161 $98,030 1.22×

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.

Stanford University CA $51,407 —

Santa Clara University CA $50,081 $17,000 debt

Colgate University NY $48,179 —

Georgetown University DC $45,936 $17,500 debt

Carnegie Mellon University PA $45,925 —

Dartmouth College NH $45,057 —

Elon University NC $44,439 $19,500 debt

Pillar College NJ $42,475 $27,892 debt

Duke University NC $42,110 $15,415 debt

Yale University CT $41,892 —

Excelsior University NY $41,464 $18,667 debt

CUNY Graduate School and University Center NY $41,124 $11,500 debt

Williams College MA $40,760 $13,416 debt

Dominican University of California CA $40,581 $27,000 debt

Southern Methodist University TX $39,687 $23,250 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Psychology, General, 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