Education Atlas

College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Ohio State University-Main Campus

Columbus, OH · Public · Bachelor-granting · 45,638 undergrads · 61% admitted

Do students finish?
88% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?
$30,305/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$121,220 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$60,409 median, 10 yrs after entry
25th pct $39,834 median $60,409 75th pct $88,954

79% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

99 Bachelor's programs · $20,371 to $76,749 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt
Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $76,749 $19,500
Engineering, Other.Bachelor's $71,065 $21,750
Industrial Engineering.Bachelor's $70,911 $21,000
Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $70,440 $19,932
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $70,372 $21,875
Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $68,553 $21,076
Materials Engineering.Bachelor's $67,817 $19,500
Applied Mathematics.Bachelor's $67,207 $15,500
Chemical Engineering.Bachelor's $66,852 $20,780
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.Bachelor's $65,547 $20,500
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering.Bachelor's $63,947 $25,360
Agricultural/Animal/Plant/Veterinary Science and Related Fields, Other.Bachelor's $62,449 $25,000
Engineering Physics.Bachelor's $62,238 —
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $61,744 $18,622
Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $61,272 $21,820
Management Information Systems and Services.Bachelor's $59,551 $20,500
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering.Bachelor's $58,700 $18,295
Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $58,216 $19,500
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $57,105 $22,250
Business/Managerial Economics.Bachelor's $56,544 $19,500
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions.Bachelor's $56,258 $22,000
Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $56,210 $21,500
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions.Bachelor's $55,752 $20,000
Real Estate.Bachelor's $55,093 $17,323
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.Bachelor's $52,767 $21,250
Agricultural Engineering.Bachelor's $50,931 $24,744
Marketing.Bachelor's $49,885 $20,250
Food Science and Technology.Bachelor's $48,777 $18,750
Mathematics.Bachelor's $48,220 $19,481
Health and Medical Administrative Services.Bachelor's $47,254 $24,995
Agricultural Business and Management.Bachelor's $46,899 $19,500
International Business.Bachelor's $46,462 $27,000
Landscape Architecture.Bachelor's $45,998 $21,000
Biomedical/Medical Engineering.Bachelor's $45,967 $23,125
Human Resources Management and Services.Bachelor's $45,593 $19,500
Physics.Bachelor's $45,021 $21,500
Economics.Bachelor's $42,908 $21,000
Agricultural and Food Products Processing.Bachelor's $41,442 —
Plant Sciences.Bachelor's $41,299 $18,281
Chemistry.Bachelor's $40,658 $24,500
Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $40,279 $21,694
Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies.Bachelor's $40,172 $20,645
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services.Bachelor's $39,954 $20,500
Air Transportation.Bachelor's $39,791 $21,731
Special Education and Teaching.Bachelor's $38,974 $24,625
Geography and Cartography.Bachelor's $38,932 $20,500
Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology.Bachelor's $38,431 —
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning.Bachelor's $38,233 $24,000
Apparel and Textiles.Bachelor's $38,186 $20,500
Public Health.Bachelor's $37,881 $16,260
Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $37,353 $19,822
Business/Commerce, General.Bachelor's $37,208 $19,748
Hospitality Administration/Management.Bachelor's $36,234 $20,500
Architecture.Bachelor's $35,785 $25,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $35,084 $20,829
Sociology.Bachelor's $35,052 $19,143
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology.Bachelor's $35,024 $19,783
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $34,649 $25,000
Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services.Bachelor's $34,517 $22,000
Public Administration.Bachelor's $34,336 $20,500
Animal Sciences.Bachelor's $34,236 $21,500
Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $33,926 $20,000
Criminology.Bachelor's $33,830 $19,500
Non-Professional Legal Studies.Bachelor's $33,819 $19,342
Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other.Bachelor's $33,775 $22,375
Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $32,665 $20,650
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $32,444 $20,250
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.Bachelor's $31,706 $19,500
Educational Administration and Supervision.Bachelor's $31,695 $21,197
International Relations and National Security Studies.Bachelor's $31,674 $18,384
Social Work.Bachelor's $30,962 $21,668
Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy.Bachelor's $30,737 $24,812
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions.Bachelor's $30,629 —
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $30,563 $22,017
Psychology, General.Bachelor's $30,355 $19,500
Philosophy.Bachelor's $30,105 $20,800
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services.Bachelor's $29,965 $19,798
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $29,509 $20,638
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $29,041 $19,076
Journalism.Bachelor's $28,920 $20,500
Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.Bachelor's $28,914 $20,000
Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $28,537 $25,625
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $28,135 $18,425
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration.Bachelor's $27,756 $19,294
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs.Bachelor's $27,724 $19,500
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $27,536 $20,000
Biology, General.Bachelor's $27,470 $20,500
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $27,247 $21,500
Neurobiology and Neurosciences.Bachelor's $27,176 $21,134
History.Bachelor's $26,168 $19,838
Film/Video and Photographic Arts.Bachelor's $25,292 $20,687
Anthropology.Bachelor's $25,095 $20,500
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor's $24,438 $18,500
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies.Bachelor's $24,224 $21,563
Zoology/Animal Biology.Bachelor's $22,941 $21,375
Music.Bachelor's $21,997 $25,500
Genetics.Bachelor's $21,648 $20,182
Dance.Bachelor's $21,123 $25,500
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $20,371 $23,250

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt
$14,500
≈ 24% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (141 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website