---
title: Is an Urban Studies/Affairs degree worth the debt?
cip: 4512
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 an Urban Studies/Affairs degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **24** colleges (24 of 24 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $35,454 ($33,993 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $19,250 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.56× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $24,467–$41,543 — 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 | $35,454 | $19,250 | 0.56× | 24 | 24/24 |
| Master's | $59,828 | $28,918 | 0.52× | 7 | 7/7 |

## Where an 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) | $50,338 | $15,000 |
| Barnard College (NY) | $47,271 | $19,000 |
| University of Pennsylvania (PA) | $46,426 | — |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $44,241 | $15,757 |
| University of Washington-Tacoma Campus (WA) | $44,241 | $15,757 |
| San Francisco State University (CA) | $41,994 | $18,625 |
| University of California-San Diego (CA) | $41,393 | $15,499 |
| University of Illinois Chicago (IL) | $39,983 | $18,000 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MN) | $38,534 | $19,500 |
| University of Utah (UT) | $38,068 | — |
| Rutgers University-Camden (NJ) | $37,195 | $24,250 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NJ) | $37,195 | $24,250 |
| Cleveland State University (OH) | $33,712 | $25,000 |
| California State University-Northridge (CA) | $33,144 | $11,987 |
| Virginia Commonwealth University (VA) | $32,639 | $22,250 |

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/urban-studies-affairs.jsonld` · `/education/fields/urban-studies-affairs.json`