Master's · earnings grade

Is a Library Science and Administration degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $43,872 two years after finishing, more than 22% of master's majors. Measured across 69 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 $43,872 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $40,461–$45,696 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$4,352 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 5,568 69 programmes

Where a Library Science and Administration 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 Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus $55,981 $63,749 $65,008 39
2 University of Houston-Clear Lake not published $54,739 not published 26
3 St. John's University-New York $47,517 $54,109 $55,197 35
4 CUNY Queens College $54,117 $52,733 $57,027 85
5 Long Island University cost & debt at this university → $55,989 $52,107 $51,330 35
6 University of Northern Iowa cost & debt at this university → not published $52,107 $50,491 10
7 University of Maryland-College Park cost & debt at this university → $49,873 $51,077 $53,529 122
8 Sam Houston State University cost & debt at this university → $51,622 $51,054 $53,618 44
9 Pratt Institute-Main cost & debt at this university → $52,945 $50,387 $51,506 —
10 East Texas A&M University $49,242 $48,667 not published 36
11 Rutgers University-New Brunswick $50,890 $47,650 $49,529 149
12 San Jose State University cost & debt at this university → $48,739 $46,013 $53,184 671

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $43,872 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $43,426 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 master's major in this dataset reports $52,837, so Library Science and Administration sits below the middle by $8,965.

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.

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

Student Counseling — $43,798 Theological and Ministerial Studies — $44,189 Research and Experimental Psychology — $44,194 Clinical, Counseling — $44,468 Broadcasting — $44,649 Social Work — $44,960

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Library Science and Administration: the questions people ask

How much do Library Science and Administration graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $43,872 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 51 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $42,699.
Is a Library Science and Administration degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around. The median graduate earns $4,352 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Library Science and Administration?
Half of US programmes report medians between $40,461 and $45,696. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Library Science and Administration each year?
About 5,568 students complete a master's in this field each year across 69 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.
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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.