---
title: Southern Illinois University-Carbondale — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Carbondale, IL
control: Public
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Carbondale, IL · Public · 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 | $53,390 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $34,030 – $77,347 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $17,750 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $10,500 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 62% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $28,329 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 74% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.33× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $25,390 | derived |

**62% 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 $17,750 (≈ 33% 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 $18,993 to $103,432 across 69 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fire Protection. | Bachelor's Degree | $103,432 | $15,000 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $101,053 | $60,389 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $74,741 | $37,374 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,138 | $20,000 |
| Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,959 | $21,000 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $63,097 | $19,500 |
| Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $63,059 | not reported |
| Psychology, General. | Doctoral Degree | $61,167 | not reported |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $59,465 | $19,313 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Master's Degree | $59,407 | $40,400 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $58,573 | $21,476 |
| Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $57,372 | $15,193 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $55,331 | $27,000 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $55,319 | $222,981 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $54,274 | $23,935 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,515 | $27,000 |
| Architecture. | Master's Degree | $52,426 | $30,233 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $52,213 | $15,897 |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,974 | $21,500 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $49,867 | $41,000 |
| Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,024 | not reported |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. | Bachelor's Degree | $48,694 | $17,680 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $46,785 | $19,000 |
| Curriculum and Instruction. | Master's Degree | $46,231 | not reported |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. | Master's Degree | $45,574 | $37,135 |
| Agricultural Business and Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,482 | $15,000 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $44,904 | not reported |
| Air Transportation. | Bachelor's Degree | $44,837 | $18,750 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,990 | $21,500 |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $43,191 | $91,500 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,679 | $25,712 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,562 | not reported |
| Agriculture, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,596 | $15,000 |
| Public Administration. | Master's Degree | $40,759 | not reported |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,696 | $22,500 |
| Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. | Associate's Degree | $39,299 | $12,000 |
| Marketing. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,993 | $23,625 |
| Architecture. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,752 | $25,000 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,426 | not reported |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $38,421 | $29,951 |
| Forestry. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,133 | $20,500 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,472 | not reported |
| Geography and Cartography. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,117 | not reported |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,407 | $27,000 |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,021 | $25,000 |
| Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,941 | not reported |
| Criminology. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,490 | $20,500 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,845 | $21,345 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,528 | $20,115 |
| Legal Support Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,351 | $24,871 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,907 | $26,922 |
| Funeral Service and Mortuary Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,319 | $28,000 |
| Apparel and Textiles. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,143 | $30,916 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,845 | $23,594 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,826 | $21,687 |
| Animal Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,580 | $21,936 |
| Journalism. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,165 | $21,269 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,123 | $23,000 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,026 | $27,900 |
| Social Work. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,883 | $27,000 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,354 | $25,000 |
| Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,457 | $20,000 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,997 | $23,625 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,712 | $23,747 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,163 | $26,250 |
| Nutrition Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,761 | $20,500 |
| Zoology/Animal Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,258 | $19,750 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,390 | $18,525 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $18,993 | $23,500 |

## 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 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?149222

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