---
title: Is a Religious Education degree worth the debt?
cip: 3904
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 Religious Education degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **10** colleges (10 of 10 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $29,201 ($27,669 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $25,437 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.98× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $27,362–$31,225 — 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 | $29,201 | $25,437 | 0.98× | 10 | 10/10 |
| Master's | $37,007 | $40,498 | 1.04× | 5 | 5/5 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Trinity International University-Florida | $31,594 | $32,000 |
| Trinity International University-Illinois (IL) | $31,594 | $32,000 |
| Grand Canyon University (AZ) | $31,317 | $30,731 |
| Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH) | $30,950 | $25,000 |
| Azusa Pacific University (CA) | $29,538 | $24,500 |
| Carolina University (NC) | $28,864 | — |
| College of Biblical Studies-Houston (TX) | $28,534 | — |
| Moody Bible Institute (IL) | $26,972 | $12,647 |
| Biola University (CA) | $23,993 | $25,437 |
| Allegheny Wesleyan College (OH) | $11,811 | — |

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/religious-education.jsonld` · `/education/fields/religious-education.json`