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Is a creative degree worth it?
The honest answer depends on the field, and for two of the six the federal numbers are hard to defend. Here is what the data actually says.
9 min read
Guides
Long-form pieces on cost, debt and whether the credential earns its price. Figures in these articles are the same federal data as the rest of the site, and update with it.
$80,281 at the top, $43,716 at the bottom, and the debt barely moves across all six fields
Debt lands between $23,000 and $26,000 in every one of the six fields; median earnings four years after completing range from $43,716 to $80,281.
Tech · 6 min read
Twelve programs where median debt at completion runs from 152% to 383% of what graduates earn
Median debt at completion set against median earnings four years after completing, for the twelve creative programs where the gap is widest.
Audio & Music · 7 min read
Digital marketing has no federal earnings line. The field it reports under pays $66,349.
The federal file reports it inside marketing and business: a median of $66,349 four years after completing, from programs paying $32,490 to $144,599.
Marketing · 6 min read
The answer is no. The price of getting one anyway runs from 8% of a year's pay to 107%.
Median earnings four years after completing are $66,349 across 3,489 reporting programs and median debt is $24,188 — but the ratio runs from 8% to 107%.
Marketing · 7 min read
$56,083 for the associate, $88,490 for the bachelor's. The gap isn't degree versus none.
No law requires the degree, and no federal file measures the self-taught, but the bachelor's median is $88,490 four years after completing on $23,250 in debt.
Tech · 7 min read
$88,490 on $23,250 borrowed. In this field the credential decides it, not the school.
Bachelor's programs report a median of $88,490 four years after completing against $23,250 in median debt, a 26% ratio; the field's worst runs 78%.
Tech · 6 min read
$66,349 four years out on $24,188 of debt. Price, not the subject, is what breaks the trade.
The field's median is $66,349 on $24,188 borrowed, a 36% ratio; Strayer's master's graduates earn $76,080 and owe $75,005 at completion.
Marketing · 7 min read
$14,624 in tuition, $22,780 in debt at completion: a price list is not a balance
The median in-state tuition is $14,624 a year and the median debt at completion is $22,780; the associate degree's $4,386 tuition still ends at 31%.
Tech · 6 min read