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Iowa majors and salaries

University of Iowa · Iowa City, Iowa · Public · 22,264 undergraduates

of 78 bachelor's programs with pay data

$70,727

median earnings 10 years after enrolling

$21,262

median federal debt at graduation

76%

graduate within six years

Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft graduates earned the least four years out, a median of $30,231; the top program pays 4.1 times as much. Statistics leads the pay table by a wide margin: $123,676 four years after graduation, against $97,329 for Chemical Engineering. Ohio University, University of Oregon, Kent State University at Kent, Colorado State University, Fort Collins and University of Missouri, Columbia trail Iowa on median earnings ten years after enrollment, while Temple University is ahead.

Highest-paying bachelor's programs

Median earnings four years after graduation, graduates working and not enrolled.

Every program with earnings data

Program	Graduates (2 yrs)	Median debt	Pay after 1 yr	Pay after 4 yrs
Statistics	36	–	$62,172	$123,676
Chemical Engineering	80	$26,900	$76,099	$97,329
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	67	$27,000	$80,651	$97,208
Industrial Engineering	78	$25,125	$76,637	$95,347
Accounting and Related Services	289	$20,500	$73,222	$92,767
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	392	$20,500	$68,531	$91,720
Mechanical Engineering	196	$26,774	$75,734	$89,078
Computer and Information Sciences, General	44	–	$56,597	$88,264
Finance and Financial Management Services	786	$21,487	$67,881	$88,229
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	187	$27,000	$67,558	$86,894
Civil Engineering	93	$26,494	$70,997	$83,350
Mathematics	125	$17,239	$64,513	$82,411
Marketing	567	$21,500	$60,672	$81,994
Computer Engineering	103	$24,108	$81,533	–
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	461	$19,742	$76,816	$78,836
Human Resources Management and Services	335	$22,500	$57,725	$77,659
Economics	220	$21,500	$56,898	$76,746
Computer Science	195	$20,485	$70,437	–
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	99	$26,929	$69,209	$68,601
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other	215	$23,500	$45,726	$67,760
Business Administration, Management and Operations	379	$20,500	$52,882	$67,605
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	146	$23,687	$31,028	$66,377
Political Science and Government	273	$20,500	$41,748	$65,923
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	69	$22,898	$43,576	$65,072
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	1,046	$21,500	$41,856	$61,732
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	393	$22,412	$46,502	$61,200
Criminology	169	$20,500	$43,676	$60,947
Communication and Media Studies	312	$21,500	$47,370	$60,737
Biology, General	230	$22,500	$38,395	$60,450
Chemistry	88	$19,750	$44,774	$60,227
Dance	32	–	–	$60,188
Geography and Cartography	16	–	–	$59,578
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	105	$24,250	$37,501	$59,071
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies	55	$23,250	$45,819	$57,098
Journalism	183	$19,000	$45,377	$56,933
Philosophy	33	–	$39,032	$56,786
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	84	$22,500	$35,221	$54,530
Sociology	62	$23,194	$40,663	$54,464
Social Work	81	$19,135	$42,694	$52,451
English Language and Literature, General	105	$25,250	$41,897	$51,679
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	288	$25,975	$44,530	$51,338
Psychology, General	0	–	$38,474	$51,031
Music	115	$25,250	$43,865	$50,180
Film/Video and Photographic Arts	114	$19,125	$30,998	$47,892
International/Globalization Studies	32	–	$24,968	$47,421
History	118	$24,847	$36,914	$46,819
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	23	$16,888	–	$46,063
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	170	$25,076	$44,488	–
Fine and Studio Arts	191	$22,750	$36,862	$43,192
Area Studies	29	–	–	$43,083
Anthropology	56	$26,500	$29,431	$42,549
Public Health	126	$22,500	$41,739	–
English Language and Literature/Letters, Other	288	$21,500	$32,549	$40,434
Behavioral Sciences	625	$19,500	$39,798	–
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	128	$22,964	$37,558	–
International Relations and National Security Studies	56	$18,000	$34,738	–
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	102	$20,907	–	$30,231

Programs are grouped by four-digit CIP code, so one row can cover several related majors. "Graduates" counts bachelor's degrees awarded across the two years that make up each earnings cohort.

Outcomes

Six-year graduation rate: 76% (four-year colleges: 54% median)
First-year students who return: 90%
Students per faculty member: 16
Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $70,727 (four-year colleges: $58,912 median)
Median federal debt at graduation: $21,262 (four-year colleges: $21,609 median)

Colleges similar to Iowa

The six public four-year colleges closest to Iowa in acceptance rate and undergraduate enrollment.

College	Acceptance rate	Undergraduates	Avg net price	Earnings after 10 yrs
Temple University Philadelphia, PA	80%	20,970	$23,058	$71,027
Ohio University Athens, OH	85%	19,633	$20,666	$61,938
University of Oregon Eugene, OR	88%	20,497	$22,547	$66,990
Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH	86%	19,320	$20,294	$51,178
Colorado State University, Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	89%	25,538	$22,247	$66,947
University of Missouri, Columbia Columbia, MO	78%	23,929	$21,142	$69,958

Program earnings and debt come from the College Scorecard field-of-study file: median pay of graduates who were working and not enrolled, one and four years after finishing, for two pooled graduating classes. Programs with too few graduates are suppressed by the Department of Education and do not appear. College Scorecard data updated November 2, 2026. How these figures are built · Iowa on College Scorecard