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

# Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN · 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 | $91,565 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $59,554 – $138,460 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $12,913 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $7,811 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 94% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $89,590 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 89% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.14× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $63,565 | derived |

**94% 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 $12,913 (≈ 14% 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 $14,373 to $132,293 across 42 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $132,293 | $139,857 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Master's Degree | $131,102 | $76,096 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $129,825 | $78,044 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $128,494 | $90,787 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | First Professional Degree | $126,876 | $68,800 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $124,176 | $53,550 |
| Marketing. | Master's Degree | $108,764 | $60,500 |
| Human Resources Management and Services. | Master's Degree | $108,703 | $41,872 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $101,714 | $14,500 |
| Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies. | Master's Degree | $101,041 | not reported |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $99,979 | $90,637 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Doctoral Degree | $91,224 | $65,875 |
| Applied Mathematics. | Master's Degree | $89,253 | $61,500 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $76,609 | $9,644 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $73,971 | not reported |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $72,741 | $12,000 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $69,605 | $14,000 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $63,852 | $60,000 |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Master's Degree | $61,248 | $40,464 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $58,939 | $15,000 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $57,873 | $100,276 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $57,580 | $35,410 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $57,409 | $172,764 |
| Social Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $56,276 | $12,250 |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences. | Doctoral Degree | $48,106 | not reported |
| Special Education and Teaching. | Master's Degree | $47,195 | $27,500 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,927 | $14,000 |
| Community Organization and Advocacy. | Master's Degree | $43,063 | $41,000 |
| Student Counseling and Personnel Services. | Master's Degree | $42,874 | $77,250 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $42,640 | $37,924 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Master's Degree | $40,854 | $43,343 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,458 | $16,514 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,103 | not reported |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,978 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,717 | not reported |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,649 | $12,000 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $31,190 | $15,050 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,292 | $11,187 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,160 | $12,000 |
| Music. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,788 | $21,500 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,492 | $16,000 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $14,373 | $16,500 |

## 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 Vanderbilt University by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?221999

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