Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Architecture degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $46,087 two years after finishing, more than 67% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 130 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 $46,087 2 years after finishing
Typical range $39,369–$50,141 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$6,567 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 3,714 130 programmes

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

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 University of Notre Dame cost & debt at this university → $58,141 $57,679 $67,248 54
2 Boston Architectural College $56,964 $56,931 $67,570 16
3 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo cost & debt at this university → $55,714 $55,884 $63,723 —
4 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $51,285 $55,286 not published —
5 University of San Francisco cost & debt at this university → not published $55,286 $65,104 23
6 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona $56,226 $55,286 $60,596 120
7 Drexel University cost & debt at this university → $56,215 $54,576 $60,105 43
8 The University of Texas at Austin cost & debt at this university → $51,821 $54,570 $58,062 47
9 Academy of Art University not published $53,810 not published —
10 Carnegie Mellon University cost & debt at this university → $44,216 $53,775 $60,559 11
11 Cornell University cost & debt at this university → $52,794 $53,358 $59,738 —
12 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute cost & debt at this university → $52,282 $52,316 $59,016 56

What this figure does and does not tell you

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 $37,705, so Architecture sits above the middle by $8,382.

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.

Architecture at other levels

Master's — $53,358 (C)

Scholarships for Architecture students

Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.

UK Undergraduate Tier 4 International Scholarships in UK, 2018... LAF USA Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership 2026
See all Architecture scholarships →

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Accounting — $47,260 Finance — $49,864 Information Technology Management — $51,035 Statistics — $53,897 Management Information Systems — $56,099 Computer and Information Sciences — $58,157

Funding the degree Lenders that fund US and international students — compare the rate before you sign.

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We may earn a commission if you take a loan through a provider here. It never changes the earnings figures on this page — those come from the US Department of Education.

Architecture: the questions people ask

How much do Architecture graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $46,087 two years after finishing, across 87 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $46,245.
Is a Architecture degree worth it?
Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level. The median graduate earns $6,567 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Architecture?
Half of US programmes report medians between $39,369 and $50,141. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Architecture each year?
About 3,714 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 130 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.
All degree grades Highest paying majors Most popular majors University costs & payback

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.