Is a Natural Sciences degree worth it?
Across 11 schools, graduates of Natural Sciences earn a median $65,682 five years out on $26,000 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Physical Scientists, All Other (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
$65,682
Median debt
$26,000
Years to pay off
3.8
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
46%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+1.2%
BLS 2024–2034
Net price
$19,409/yr
Debt-test failures
0%
of programs
'Real' premium
+$8,848
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Natural Sciences 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.