---
title: Is a Public Administration degree worth the debt?
cip: 4404
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 Public Administration degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **45** colleges (45 of 45 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $39,354 ($37,871 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,562 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.51× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $35,723–$44,177 — 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 | $39,354 | $20,562 | 0.51× | 45 | 45/45 |
| Master's | $51,806 | $40,761 | 0.72× | 220 | 220/220 |
| Grad cert. | $58,771 | $25,886 | 0.56× | 3 | 3/3 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Barry University (FL) | $71,434 | $33,381 |
| Colorado State University Global (CO) | $68,522 | — |
| California State University-Northridge (CA) | $65,244 | $36,442 |
| National University (CA) | $61,249 | $29,181 |
| Western Carolina University (NC) | $55,712 | $17,234 |
| University of Maryland Global Campus (MD) | $55,385 | $21,169 |
| Upper Iowa University (IA) | $53,774 | $25,000 |
| University of Phoenix-Arizona (AZ) | $52,336 | $38,250 |
| California Baptist University (CA) | $51,784 | $36,707 |
| Syracuse University (NY) | $48,017 | $26,000 |
| Indiana University-Bloomington (IN) | $44,780 | $19,500 |
| Florida International University (FL) | $44,177 | $23,000 |
| The University of Arizona Global Campus (AZ) | $43,833 | $33,349 |
| CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NY) | $42,862 | $14,604 |
| Indian River State College (FL) | $42,666 | — |

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/public-administration.jsonld` · `/education/fields/public-administration.json`