Economics

Is an Economics degree worth it?

Across 358 bachelor's programs that report earnings, the median pays its graduates $45,786 a year after graduation, and the middle half pay between $39,704 and $53,280. The median for all majors is $37,050. At the median program, graduates who borrowed owe $39,273. Debt is 0.86x first-year earnings, which ranks 83rd of 147 majors, where 1st carries the least debt for the pay.

Economics graduates start out earning well above the typical major one year after graduating. The best-paying programs are at schools that admit almost no one, and Duke's economics department reports that most of its graduates who take jobs go into finance, with many of the rest in consulting. That pay reflects who those schools admit and which firms recruit on their campuses.

The lowest-paying programs are at less selective schools, including a campus in Albuquerque, where federal wage data show pay runs below the national average. CUNY Brooklyn College's figure comes from too few graduates to be reliable. Many economics majors later earn a law degree or an MBA, usually after a few years of work, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's economics department notes, so first-year earnings show only part of the picture.

These are earnings one year after graduating, for students who received federal aid. Majors that lead to graduate school, or to careers that start slowly, look worse here than they will ten years on.