Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Social Sciences degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $33,237 two years after finishing, more than 31% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 348 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 $33,237 2 years after finishing
Typical range $29,565–$37,568 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree — vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 5,560 348 programmes

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

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Manhattan University $47,290 $64,493 $73,231 6
2 Vanderbilt University cost & debt at this university → $56,276 $56,544 $72,481 302
3 University of Washington-Seattle Campus $47,335 $53,358 not published 73
4 Harvard University cost & debt at this university → $42,926 $52,107 $62,452 189
5 New York University cost & debt at this university → $40,666 $49,019 $54,034 50
6 Thomas Edison State University cost & debt at this university → $42,906 $48,432 $46,830 88
7 University of Southern California cost & debt at this university → $28,365 $46,087 $45,887 18
8 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley cost & debt at this university → not published $42,682 $46,516 18
9 University of Massachusetts Global $32,726 $41,193 $45,587 2
10 University of Wisconsin-Platteville cost & debt at this university → not published $41,193 not published 10
11 Central Washington University cost & debt at this university → $36,440 $40,580 $46,430 50
12 Colorado State University Global cost & debt at this university → $40,667 $40,527 $42,468 3

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 Social Sciences sits below the middle by $4,468.

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.

Social Sciences at other levels

Master's — $38,481 (F)

Scholarships for Social Sciences students

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

Netherlands Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship Ampere Scholarship of Excellence - ENS Paris, France Ph.D. Scholarships in Innovation Studies at University of Stav... 75 Fully-funded PhD Studentships at Nottingham Trent Universit... 150 Fully Funded PhD Degree Scholarships for International Stu... Mildred Blaxter Postdoctoral Fellowships for International App...
See all Social Sciences scholarships →

Study Social Sciences Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

Secondary Education (Social Sciences) — B.Ed — McGill University Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences (Honours) — University of New South Wa... Flexible Double Degree in Advanced Arts, Socia... — Australian National Univer... Flexible Double Degree in Arts, Social Science... — Australian National Univer... Doctor of Philosophy in Social Sciences — Australian National Univer... Political and Social Sciences — Pompeu Fabra University

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

Communications — $33,710 Political Science — $33,993 Microbiology — $34,207 Criminal Justice — $34,420 Geography — $35,420 Teaching — $35,605

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.

Social Sciences: the questions people ask

How much do Social Sciences graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $33,237 two years after finishing, across 86 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $32,131.
Is a Social Sciences degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.
What is the salary range for Social Sciences?
Half of US programmes report medians between $29,565 and $37,568. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Social Sciences each year?
About 5,560 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 348 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

Classified by the Department of Education as Social Sciences, General (CIP 4501). 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.