Is a Computer Programming degree worth it?
Across 27 schools, graduates of Computer Programming earn a median $82,894 five years out on $31,000 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Software Developers (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$82,894
Median debt
$31,000
Years to pay off
3.7
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
85%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+12.9%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
14.6%
$79,129 vs $67,605
Net price
$19,139/yr
Debt-test failures
0%
of programs
'Real' premium
+$24,057
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Computer Programming in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.