---
title: Is a Social Sciences, Other degree worth the debt?
cip: 4599
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, Other degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **34** colleges (34 of 34 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $31,812 ($33,459 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,474 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.62× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $27,281–$35,107 — 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 | $31,812 | $21,474 | 0.62× | 34 | 34/34 |
| Master's | $46,451 | $47,114 | 1.01× | 7 | 7/7 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| University of California-Berkeley (CA) | $55,102 | $15,000 |
| Boston University (MA) | $48,872 | — |
| Columbia University in the City of New York (NY) | $44,253 | $25,000 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NJ) | $40,085 | $24,788 |
| SUNY Old Westbury (NY) | $38,225 | $18,000 |
| CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NY) | $37,626 | — |
| New York University (NY) | $37,265 | $20,500 |
| Loyola University Maryland (MD) | $35,867 | $27,000 |
| Russell Sage College (NY) | $35,123 | $21,000 |
| Towson University (MD) | $35,059 | $16,750 |
| University of Rochester (NY) | $33,895 | $21,366 |
| Benedictine University (IL) | $33,580 | $27,470 |
| University of Rhode Island (RI) | $33,460 | $22,615 |
| St Lawrence University (NY) | $32,938 | $27,000 |
| Central Michigan University (MI) | $32,349 | $27,000 |

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