Master's · earnings grade

Is a Community Organization and Advocacy degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $45,466 two years after finishing, more than 27% of master's majors. Measured across 44 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

D

The verdict on the money

Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.

Median earnings $45,466 2 years after finishing
Typical range $40,945–$49,058 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$5,946 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 478 44 programmes

Where a Community Organization and Advocacy degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Northwestern University cost & debt at this university → $115,760 $113,668 $128,046 —
2 Westminster University $49,086 $61,020 $68,263 9
3 Brandeis University cost & debt at this university → not published $57,318 not published 25
4 Pennsylvania State University-World Campus $58,377 $49,058 not published 23
5 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $58,377 $49,058 not published —
6 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cost & debt at this university → $42,572 $45,466 $50,213 32
7 Vanderbilt University cost & debt at this university → $43,063 $42,682 $55,573 18
8 Cleveland State University cost & debt at this university → $36,227 $42,682 not published 10
9 Springfield College $43,709 $40,945 $44,985 —
10 Clark University cost & debt at this university → $32,656 $39,639 $47,508 30
11 Murray State University cost & debt at this university → $36,386 $32,925 $36,498 13

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 master's major in this dataset reports $52,837, so Community Organization and Advocacy sits below the middle by $7,371.

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.

Community Organization and Advocacy at other levels

Bachelor's — $34,290 (C)

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

Teaching — $45,668 Forestry — $45,696 Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution — $45,696 Design and Applied Arts — $45,696 Criminal Justice — $45,715 Communications — $45,715

Need a student loan for Community Organization and Advocacy 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.

Community Organization and Advocacy: the questions people ask

How much do Community Organization and Advocacy graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $45,466 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 11 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $43,709.
Is a Community Organization and Advocacy degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around. The median graduate earns $5,946 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Community Organization and Advocacy?
Half of US programmes report medians between $40,945 and $49,058. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Community Organization and Advocacy each year?
About 478 students complete a master's in this field each year across 44 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.