Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Applied Mathematics degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $55,151 two years after finishing, more than 73% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 313 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

B

The verdict on the money

Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level.

Median earnings $55,151 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $45,919–$65,387 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$15,631 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 4,620 313 programmes

Where a Applied Mathematics degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Stanford University cost & debt at this university → not published $97,071 not published 31
2 Harvard University cost & debt at this university → $102,707 $90,856 $121,771 120
3 Brown University cost & debt at this university → $105,532 $88,506 $97,037 173
4 Columbia University in the City of New York $71,727 $84,653 not published 60
5 University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus $68,050 $69,338 not published
6 University of Connecticut-Stamford $68,050 $69,338 not published
7 University of Connecticut-Avery Point $68,050 $69,338 not published
8 University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus $68,050 $69,338 not published
9 University of Connecticut $68,050 $69,338 not published 68
10 University of Washington-Seattle Campus not published $68,778 $80,436 158
11 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cost & debt at this university → $64,899 $67,660 $86,155 193
12 Wentworth Institute of Technology cost & debt at this university → not published $67,660 not published 16

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $55,151 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $54,463 is what the typical programme reports, counting a class of twenty the same as a class of two thousand. The weighted figure is higher here, which means the larger programmes in this field are the better-paying ones.

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $36,497, so Applied Mathematics sits above the middle by $18,654.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Applied Mathematics at other levels

Need a student loan for Applied Mathematics students?

Tell us what you need and we will come back with the lenders that actually fund students from your country — including options with no US co-signer. No obligation, and we never charge you.

Free for students. We are not a lender and give no financial advice — we pass your request to partners and may be paid by them if you go ahead. One request per person per service; sending it again simply updates what we hold.

Applied Mathematics: the questions people ask

How much do Applied Mathematics graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $55,151 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 48 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $51,789.
Is a Applied Mathematics degree worth it?
Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level. The median graduate earns $15,631 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Applied Mathematics?
Half of US programmes report medians between $45,919 and $65,387. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Applied Mathematics each year?
About 4,620 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 313 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.