---
title: Is a Student Counseling and Personnel Services degree worth the debt?
cip: 1311
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 Student Counseling and Personnel Services degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Master's**, across **303** colleges (303 of 303 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $42,950 ($43,638 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $41,000 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.93× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $40,121–$47,144 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Master's | $42,950 | $41,000 | 0.93× | 303 | 303/303 |
| Doctoral | $54,490 | $47,455 | 0.91× | 3 | 3/3 |
| Grad cert. | $44,597 | $50,873 | 1.14× | 7 | 7/7 |

## Where a Master's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fresno Pacific University (CA) | $70,696 | — |
| Seattle Pacific University (WA) | $63,181 | $55,648 |
| Concordia University-Chicago (IL) | $60,778 | $47,380 |
| Seattle University (WA) | $60,700 | $61,500 |
| California State University-Los Angeles (CA) | $60,412 | $40,301 |
| San Francisco State University (CA) | $60,297 | $40,113 |
| Alfred University (NY) | $60,036 | $24,864 |
| New York Institute of Technology (NY) | $59,303 | $58,860 |
| CUNY Lehman College (NY) | $58,979 | $41,000 |
| University of Puget Sound (WA) | $58,778 | — |
| California State University-East Bay (CA) | $58,229 | $39,757 |
| San Jose State University (CA) | $57,614 | — |
| University of La Verne (CA) | $57,502 | — |
| Saint Mary's College of California (CA) | $57,458 | $66,300 |
| Valdosta State University (GA) | $57,170 | $32,488 |

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/student-counseling-and-personnel-services.jsonld` · `/education/fields/student-counseling-and-personnel-services.json`