Program Rankings — Field of Study × Institution
Each row is one program at one school — College Scorecard Field of Study earnings (Treasury IRS records, 5 years after completion), median federal-loan debt at graduation, and the 4-year cumulative completer cohort. Programs are mixed across credential levels and fields here; for a per-credential or per-field cut, see Credentials and Fields. Tables exclude programs at institutions with fewer than 1,000 undergrads to avoid small-cohort distortion. Spans 52 ingested states (204,101 programs total).
Top 10 Highest Median earnings · 5 years after completion (USD)What this meansMedian annual earnings of program completers 5 years after finishing a degree, computed from Treasury IRS tax records. Program-level cut from College Scorecard Field of Study Data — distinct from the institution-level 'years after entry' figure.
Programs whose completers reported the highest median earnings 5 years after finishing — Treasury IRS records via College Scorecard Field of Study. Cohort selectivity, geography, and graduate-school rates drive most of the variation.
| # | Program | Credential | Institution | State | Completers | Median earnings · 5 years after completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finance and Financial Management Services | Master's Degree | Penn | PA | 303 | $384.5k |
| 2 | Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other | Master's Degree | Ohio State | OH | 3 | $352.5k |
| 3 | International Business | Master's Degree | Duke | NC | 85 | $346.3k |
| 4 | Law | First Professional Degree | Columbia | NY | 460 | $332.8k |
| 5 | Computer Science | Master's Degree | Stanford | CA | 332 | $331.7k |
| 6 | Business/Commerce, General | First Professional Degree | Northwestern | IL | — | $318.4k |
| 7 | Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering | Doctoral Degree | Stanford | CA | 73 | $314.6k |
| 8 | Health and Medical Administrative Services | Master's Degree | Penn | PA | 102 | $313.6k |
| 9 | Dentistry | Master's Degree | Ohio State | OH | — | $312.5k |
| 10 | Law | First Professional Degree | UChicago | IL | 212 | $308.4k |
| 11 | Dental Residency Programs | Graduate/Professional Certificate | Augusta University | GA | — | $306.4k |
| 12 | Computer Science | Master's Degree | UC San Diego | CA | 308 | $301.2k |
| 13 | Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences | Post-baccalaureate Certificate | Pitt | PA | — | $299.1k |
| 14 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | Bachelor's Degree | Penn | PA | 156 | $298.0k |
| 15 | Real Estate | Master's Degree | Penn | PA | 26 | $295.2k |
| 16 | Law | First Professional Degree | Penn | PA | 256 | $290.5k |
| 17 | Law | First Professional Degree | Stanford | CA | 184 | $289.2k |
| 18 | Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences | Master's Degree | Texas A&M | TX | 17 | $288.9k |
| 19 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | Master's Degree | UCLA | CA | — | $287.4k |
| 20 | Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences | Master's Degree | VCU | VA | 16 | $287.4k |
Top 10 Lowest Median earnings · 5 years after completion (USD)What this meansMedian annual earnings of program completers 5 years after finishing a degree, computed from Treasury IRS tax records. Program-level cut from College Scorecard Field of Study Data — distinct from the institution-level 'years after entry' figure.
Programs reporting the lowest median earnings 5 years after completion. Many appear here because graduates pursued additional schooling rather than entering the labor market.
Top 10 Highest Median debt at completion (USD)What this meansMedian federal-student-loan debt of completers at graduation, reported by College Scorecard. Excludes private and parent loans. Lower values can indicate generous aid, lower published prices, or a high share of completers who used federal loans sparingly.
Programs whose completers carry the highest median federal student-loan debt. Concentrated in graduate and professional credentials.
| # | Program | Credential | Institution | State | Completers | Median debt at completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | USC | CA | 180 | $439.3k |
| 2 | Dentistry | Doctoral Degree | Nova Southeastern University | FL | — | $406.4k |
| 3 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Tufts | MA | 243 | $368.6k |
| 4 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | University of Detroit Mercy | MI | 149 | $366.9k |
| 5 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Touro University | NY | 108 | $362.5k |
| 6 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Case Western Reserve University | OH | 76 | $360.4k |
| 7 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | University of the Pacific | CA | 167 | $349.1k |
| 8 | Medicine | Doctoral Degree | Nova Southeastern University | FL | — | $336.7k |
| 9 | Medicine | First Professional Degree | Touro University | NY | 251 | $330.5k |
| 10 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Columbia | NY | 94 | $324.1k |
| 11 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | UIC | IL | 123 | $323.9k |
| 12 | Medicine | First Professional Degree | Tulane | LA | 185 | $322.6k |
| 13 | Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences | Graduate/Professional Certificate | Columbia | NY | 28 | $320.7k |
| 14 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | UNLV | NV | 89 | $317.1k |
| 15 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Howard | DC | 72 | $316.1k |
| 16 | Medicine | First Professional Degree | Lincoln Memorial University | TN | 219 | $315.2k |
| 17 | Medicine | Doctoral Degree | University of New England | ME | — | $312.6k |
| 18 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | BU | MA | 196 | $310.9k |
| 19 | Dentistry | First Professional Degree | Louisville | KY | 127 | $306.0k |
| 20 | Dentistry | Doctoral Degree | Penn | PA | 2 | $303.6k |
Top 10 Lowest Median debt at completion (USD)What this meansMedian federal-student-loan debt of completers at graduation, reported by College Scorecard. Excludes private and parent loans. Lower values can indicate generous aid, lower published prices, or a high share of completers who used federal loans sparingly.
Programs whose completers carry the lowest median federal student-loan debt — often programs with strong aid, lower published prices, or low federal-loan utilization.
Top 10 Highest Cumulative completers · 4-year (degrees awarded)What this meansIPEDSCOUNT2 — the rolling four-year sum of degrees awarded in this CIP × credential, matched to the cohort whose earnings are reported in College Scorecard FoS. Larger programs have more reliable downstream-earnings signals.
Programs with the largest 4-year cumulative completer cohorts. Bigger cohorts produce more reliable downstream-earnings signals.