Master's · earnings grade

Is a Marketing degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $58,693 two years after finishing, more than 54% of master's majors. Measured across 193 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

C

The verdict on the money

It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.

Median earnings $58,693 2 years after finishing
Typical range $46,087–$76,460 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$19,173 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 3,059 193 programmes

Where a Marketing 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 Pennsylvania cost & debt at this university → $155,920 $144,938 $177,786 83
2 University of Wisconsin-Madison cost & debt at this university → $113,083 $111,992 $130,357 21
3 Vanderbilt University cost & debt at this university → $108,764 $111,620 $121,754 29
4 Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia not published $103,078 not published 31
5 Southern Methodist University cost & debt at this university → $89,842 $101,072 $107,302 —
6 University of Southern California cost & debt at this university → not published $94,408 not published 28
7 Boston University cost & debt at this university → $68,346 $82,440 $98,204 169
8 University of Georgia $71,513 $81,333 $91,218 —
9 Bentley University cost & debt at this university → not published $77,715 $83,352 —
10 Suffolk University cost & debt at this university → $69,895 $76,460 $81,268 7
11 Pace University cost & debt at this university → not published $71,015 not published 25
12 Texas A&M University-College Station cost & debt at this university → $70,955 $69,338 $77,772 25

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 $54,713, so Marketing sits above the middle by $3,980.

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.

Marketing at other levels

Bachelor's — $42,154 (B)

Scholarships for Marketing students

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

St. Kovachev Scholarship 2016. A must Apply Scholarship in UK... Norwich Business School PhD Studentships at University of East... PhD International Marketing Scholarship 2017 University of Leeds Full and Partial Scholarships for Internat... University of Oulu International Master’s Scholarship Scheme i... Aston Business School Scholarship Award Scheme for Internation...
See all Marketing scholarships →

Study Marketing Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

Marketing — Umeå University Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Marketing — McGill University Business - Marketing — Humber Polytechnic Marketing - Digital Engagement Strategy (Optio... — Centennial College Bachelor of Commerce - Marketing — University of Melbourne Bachelor of Commerce - Marketing Insights and... — Macquarie University

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

Accounting and Related Services — $59,954 Health and Medical Administrative Services — $62,818 Economics — $64,290 Business Administration, Management and Operations — $64,706 Physics — $66,207 Management Information Systems and Services — $69,535

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.

Marketing: the questions people ask

How much do Marketing graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $58,693 two years after finishing, across 34 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $55,856.
Is a Marketing degree worth it?
It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label. The median graduate earns $19,173 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Marketing?
Half of US programmes report medians between $46,087 and $76,460. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Marketing each year?
About 3,059 students complete a master's in this field each year across 193 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.