---
title: Howard University — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Washington, DC
control: Private nonprofit
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Howard University

Washington, DC · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $63,066 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $34,222 – $92,903 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $19,200 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $12,500 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 70% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $54,630 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 76% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.30× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $35,066 | derived |

**70% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $19,200 (≈ 30% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $15,855 to $106,768 across 35 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Doctoral Degree | $106,768 | not reported |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $103,412 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $83,747 | $76,816 |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration. | First Professional Degree | $76,631 | $236,918 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,153 | $20,500 |
| Dentistry. | First Professional Degree | $74,115 | $316,095 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,085 | $20,197 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $67,642 | $24,000 |
| Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. | Master's Degree | $66,889 | not reported |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $62,960 | $185,348 |
| International Business. | Bachelor's Degree | $60,535 | $24,000 |
| Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology. | Doctoral Degree | $60,380 | not reported |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $59,844 | $87,872 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $59,638 | $25,000 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $57,999 | $247,248 |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $53,307 | $86,750 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $50,332 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,205 | $27,000 |
| Marketing. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,058 | $25,000 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Master's Degree | $46,900 | not reported |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,518 | not reported |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,309 | $23,500 |
| Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,119 | $25,750 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,318 | $27,000 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,089 | $26,500 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,844 | $24,375 |
| Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness, and Kinesiology, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,039 | not reported |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,102 | $25,874 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,764 | not reported |
| Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,756 | $26,000 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,342 | not reported |
| Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,776 | not reported |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,174 | $25,000 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,431 | $24,437 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $15,855 | $27,000 |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore Howard University by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?131520

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/howard-university-dc.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`