Majors with the widest earnings spread: Religion/Religious Studies leads.
Within a major, how far apart are graduates who do well and graduates who do less well? The ratio of the 75th to the 25th percentile of graduates' earnings, five years after completing, by bachelor's field.
Among 162 bachelor's fields with at least 1,000 graduates measured, Religion/Religious Studies has the widest spread: graduates at the 75th percentile earned 3.02 times those at the 25th ($23,176 vs $69,942). The narrowest is Civil Engineering (1.40×). A wide spread means the major alone says less about earnings.
Top 25
Data Computed by TryHired from College Scorecard. Download the CSV.
| Field (bachelor's) | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 75th ÷ 25th | Graduates measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion/Religious Studies | $23,176 | $45,033 | $69,942 | 3.02× | 5,671 |
| Cognitive Science | $57,075 | $86,453 | $141,747 | 2.48× | 1,256 |
| Computer Software and Media Applications | $37,522 | $60,028 | $92,384 | 2.46× | 4,067 |
| Dance | $25,536 | $43,161 | $61,639 | 2.41× | 2,838 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | $28,521 | $47,336 | $67,940 | 2.38× | 12,016 |
| Graphic Communications | $29,474 | $47,261 | $69,403 | 2.35× | 3,637 |
| Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | $41,111 | $64,693 | $96,152 | 2.34× | 3,294 |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | $35,763 | $56,927 | $83,368 | 2.33× | 1,394 |
| Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians | $28,403 | $46,743 | $65,531 | 2.31× | 1,996 |
| Music | $26,663 | $44,832 | $61,501 | 2.31× | 15,332 |
| Philosophy | $38,297 | $59,482 | $85,975 | 2.24× | 6,497 |
| Visual and Performing Arts, General | $28,859 | $45,333 | $64,525 | 2.24× | 3,369 |
| Real Estate | $61,156 | $90,034 | $135,644 | 2.22× | 1,049 |
| Computer Programming | $54,918 | $85,626 | $120,568 | 2.20× | 1,758 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft | $27,359 | $42,716 | $59,818 | 2.19× | 14,058 |
| Bible/Biblical Studies | $30,321 | $46,656 | $65,027 | 2.14× | 2,857 |
| Design and Applied Arts | $35,596 | $55,092 | $76,017 | 2.14× | 24,224 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management | $33,675 | $51,919 | $71,820 | 2.13× | 3,531 |
| Fine and Studio Arts | $28,646 | $44,351 | $61,083 | 2.13× | 28,054 |
| Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General | $35,328 | $52,924 | $74,841 | 2.12× | 4,979 |
| Applied Mathematics | $64,871 | $97,431 | $136,997 | 2.11× | 2,583 |
| Area Studies | $40,848 | $61,956 | $85,932 | 2.10× | 3,998 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | $34,682 | $52,068 | $72,933 | 2.10× | 8,929 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies | $30,987 | $47,342 | $65,140 | 2.10× | 1,717 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication | $36,132 | $54,301 | $75,831 | 2.10× | 11,672 |
How this page is built
Spread = Scorecard's national 75th percentile ÷ 25th percentile of earnings 5 years after completing (EARN_P75_5YR_NAT ÷ EARN_P25_5YR_NAT) for each bachelor's 4-digit field with at least 1,000 federal-aid graduates working and not enrolled. Percentiles are Scorecard's own; nothing is recomputed from program medians. Free to cite with a link to this page.
- Graduates without federal aid, or who were enrolled, not working or deceased in the measurement year.
- Tuition paid, private loans, interest, taxes, lifetime earnings, cause and effect, or any individual's outcome.
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study data (Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study, data updated Oct 15, 2026; retrieved Oct 25, 2026) and technical documentation (October 2026).