---
title: Is a Social Sciences, General degree worth the debt?
cip: 4501
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 Social Sciences, General degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **81** colleges (81 of 81 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $32,131 ($33,565 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.66× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $28,535–$36,363 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Associate's | $23,307 | $10,500 | 0.46× | 16 | 16/16 |
| Bachelor's | $32,131 | $22,500 | 0.66× | 81 | 81/81 |
| Master's | $40,855 | $41,000 | 0.67× | 10 | 10/10 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vanderbilt University (TN) | $56,276 | $12,250 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $47,335 | $18,268 |
| Manhattan University (NY) | $47,290 | $26,000 |
| Harvard University (MA) | $42,926 | $22,750 |
| Thomas Edison State University (NJ) | $42,906 | $15,312 |
| Colorado State University Global (CO) | $40,667 | $26,899 |
| New York University (NY) | $40,666 | $27,000 |
| Mercy University (NY) | $40,285 | $22,699 |
| Southern Oregon University (OR) | $40,221 | — |
| Grand Valley State University (MI) | $39,437 | $26,932 |
| University of Utah (UT) | $39,139 | $21,500 |
| University of North Dakota (ND) | $39,028 | $24,098 |
| Empire State University (NY) | $38,352 | — |
| Washington State University (WA) | $37,484 | $21,551 |
| University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI) | $37,471 | — |

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/social-sciences-general.jsonld` · `/education/fields/social-sciences-general.json`