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

# University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, WI · 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 | $73,792 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $52,171 – $108,161 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $18,058 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $11,233 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 90% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $28,679 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 86% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.24× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $45,792 | derived |

**90% 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 $18,058 (≈ 25% 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 $21,448 to $115,387 across 94 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | First Professional Degree | $115,387 | not reported |
| Marketing. | Master's Degree | $113,083 | not reported |
| Business/Commerce, General. | Master's Degree | $112,390 | $50,847 |
| Engineering, General. | Master's Degree | $110,338 | $41,000 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $105,101 | $61,896 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | First Professional Degree | $96,519 | $55,103 |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration. | First Professional Degree | $96,320 | $127,000 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $78,839 | not reported |
| Industrial Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,061 | $23,481 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,878 | $20,500 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,510 | $21,638 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | First Professional Degree | $71,047 | $64,000 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $70,596 | $22,500 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $70,478 | $22,250 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $70,199 | $19,450 |
| Real Estate. | Bachelor's Degree | $69,730 | $20,138 |
| Agricultural Business and Management. | Master's Degree | $67,374 | not reported |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $66,167 | $21,500 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,921 | $20,659 |
| Insurance. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,571 | $20,500 |
| Civil Engineering. | Master's Degree | $65,403 | not reported |
| Materials Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,892 | $20,195 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Doctoral Degree | $64,422 | not reported |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $63,620 | $20,492 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $62,203 | $20,500 |
| Agricultural Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $61,703 | $19,970 |
| Engineering Mechanics. | Bachelor's Degree | $61,649 | $23,500 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $61,605 | $20,277 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $61,474 | $20,181 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $58,495 | $179,642 |
| Chemistry. | Doctoral Degree | $57,627 | not reported |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $57,402 | $61,500 |
| Curriculum and Instruction. | Doctoral Degree | $57,096 | $63,482 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Master's Degree | $54,155 | $40,685 |
| Marketing. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,817 | $20,000 |
| International Business. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,394 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,294 | $20,000 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Doctoral Degree | $53,043 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Master's Degree | $52,867 | $20,213 |
| General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,840 | $18,737 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,817 | $20,080 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $51,805 | $38,500 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $51,374 | $39,736 |
| Food Science and Technology. | Bachelor's Degree | $50,564 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $48,053 | $20,500 |
| Agricultural Business and Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,469 | $12,500 |
| Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology. | Master's Degree | $45,988 | $25,900 |
| Physics. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,916 | $20,500 |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $45,760 | $29,000 |
| Curriculum and Instruction. | Master's Degree | $45,028 | $23,500 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $44,957 | $20,500 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,684 | $17,875 |
| Journalism. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,011 | $21,500 |
| Special Education and Teaching. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,945 | $20,500 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,648 | $21,500 |
| Music. | Doctoral Degree | $40,432 | not reported |
| Library Science and Administration. | Master's Degree | $40,309 | $33,938 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,352 | $24,250 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,140 | $22,250 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,772 | $17,212 |
| Non-Professional Legal Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,462 | $20,000 |
| Agricultural Public Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,985 | $15,000 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,807 | $21,500 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,006 | $20,500 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,789 | $20,500 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,717 | $21,500 |
| Animal Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,454 | $25,000 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,941 | $20,000 |
| Genetics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,912 | $19,500 |
| Slavic, Baltic and Albanian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,908 | not reported |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,788 | $21,500 |
| Area Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,123 | $20,196 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,856 | $20,000 |
| Geography and Cartography. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,655 | $18,689 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,599 | $16,166 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,572 | $20,500 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,913 | $20,500 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,793 | $16,750 |
| Botany/Plant Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,520 | not reported |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,857 | $19,254 |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,244 | $20,500 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,174 | $19,989 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,137 | $21,202 |
| International/Globalization Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,989 | $17,732 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,843 | $19,500 |
| Nutrition Sciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,232 | $20,500 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,879 | $24,000 |
| Zoology/Animal Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,864 | $23,250 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,422 | $18,875 |
| Social Work. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,239 | $20,500 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Master's Degree | $26,063 | $33,102 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $23,512 | $19,500 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,520 | $25,247 |
| Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,448 | not reported |

## 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 University of Wisconsin-Madison by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?240444

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