Which agriculture bachelor's program pays the most?

Cal Poly SLO in California reports the highest first-year pay of the 46 programs ranked here, $64,786. Its median federal debt is $21,903.

How much debt do agriculture bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $20,625 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 54% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Agriculture (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

46 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Bachelor's in Agriculture, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median agriculture bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $39,567 in their first year and $52,367 five years after. Texas is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $44,994. The median program leaves its graduates with $20,625 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$39,567Across 46 programs

Median pay after 5 years$52,367Across 36 programs

Median federal debt$20,625Across 43 programs

Debt-to-earnings54%Across 40 programs

All 46 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$64,786	$58,513	$68,350	$21,903	34%
2	Texas A&MCollege Station, TX · public	$59,625	$61,433	$61,337	$18,585	31%
3	North Dakota StateFargo, ND · public	$55,828	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,000	45%
4	Texas TechLubbock, TX · public	$54,596	$56,251	$52,441	$27,000	49%
5	Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · private nonprofit	$53,465	Not adjusted	$56,857	$15,599	29%
6	South Dakota StateBrookings, SD · public	$49,781	Not adjusted	$47,334	$20,000	40%
7	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb, IL · public	$48,509	$48,529	$58,204	$18,969	39%
8	Fort Hays StateHays, KS · public	$48,048	$53,346	$47,873	$20,340	42%
9	Illinois StateNormal, IL · public	$47,295	$47,315	$64,041	$18,750	40%
10	West Texas A&M UniversityCanyon, TX · public	$45,300	$46,674	$59,749	$13,460	30%
11	Langston UniversityLangston, OK · public	$45,155	Not adjusted	Not reported	$28,310	63%
12	Texas StateSan Marcos, TX · public	$44,994	$46,358	$61,972	$20,699	46%
13	Warner UniversityLake Wales, FL · private nonprofit	$44,154	$42,696	Not reported	$22,250	50%
14	University of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, NE · public	$43,669	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	Stanislaus StateTurlock, CA · public	$43,101	$38,928	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
16	Dickinson StateDickinson, ND · public	$42,583	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
17	University of MissouriColumbia, MO · public	$42,145	Not adjusted	$58,852	Not reported	Not reported
18	Auburn UniversityAuburn, AL · public	$41,682	$46,927	Not reported	$17,625	42%
19	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville, TX · public	$41,646	$42,909	$57,257	$22,875	55%
20	NC StateRaleigh, NC · public	$41,084	$43,555	Not reported	$19,000	46%
21	Southern Utah UniversityCedar City, UT · public	$41,071	$41,543	$57,314	Not reported	Not reported
22	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, IL · public	$39,700	$39,717	$63,031	$18,000	45%
23	University of DelawareNewark, DE · public	$39,696	Not adjusted	Not reported	$24,372	61%
24	UT MartinMartin, TN · public	$39,438	$42,928	$52,293	$19,500	49%
25	Oregon StateCorvallis, OR · public	$39,145	$37,872	$50,564	$26,000	66%
26	Delaware StateDover, DE · public	$38,873	Not adjusted	$47,478	$23,625	61%
27	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, KY · public	$38,804	$43,040	$45,055	$23,656	61%
28	Northwest Missouri StateMaryville, MO · public	$38,678	$42,589	$61,046	$18,250	47%
29	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$38,606	$39,567	$42,079	$26,000	67%
30	Prairie View A&M UniversityPrairie View, TX · public	$38,063	$39,217	$45,073	$28,500	75%
31	McNeese StateLake Charles, LA · public	$37,887	$42,952	$52,104	$19,500	51%
32	Alcorn StateAlcorn State, MS · public	$37,771	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	71%
33	East Texas A&M UniversityCommerce, TX · public	$37,728	$38,872	$52,593	$20,500	54%
34	Truman StateKirksville, MO · public	$36,853	$40,579	$47,343	$19,500	53%
35	Missouri StateSpringfield, MO · public	$35,737	$39,351	$47,927	$20,625	58%
36	UH HiloHilo, HI · public	$35,378	$32,176	Not reported	$26,345	74%
37	Morehead StateMorehead, KY · public	$34,670	$38,454	$44,037	$25,000	72%
38	Tennessee StateNashville, TN · public	$34,255	$37,286	$43,651	$27,000	79%
39	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville, TN · public	$33,508	$36,473	$57,554	$14,915	45%
40	NC A&TGreensboro, NC · public	$32,301	$34,244	Not reported	$28,285	88%
41	Austin PeayClarksville, TN · public	$31,905	$34,728	$44,104	$18,625	58%
42	Southern UniversityBaton Rouge, LA · public	$30,865	Not adjusted	Not reported	$28,250	92%
43	FAMUTallahassee, FL · public	$26,677	$25,796	$42,263	$16,750	63%
44	New Mexico StateLas Cruces, NM · public	$26,666	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,993	86%
45	Berea CollegeBerea, KY · private nonprofit	$25,912	Not adjusted	$41,799	Not reported	Not reported
46	UPR MayaguezMayaguez, PR · public	$18,154	Not adjusted	Not reported	$10,000	55%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 32 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 14, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Agriculture (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's agriculture bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Texas	7	$44,994	$20,600

Programs in 23 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 7 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to agriculture, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Soil and Plant Scientists

$78,850

Median pay in the US. 15,730 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,680Top 10%: $138,120

Agricultural Technicians

$49,630

Median pay in the US. 15,130 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $35,980Top 10%: $76,480

Food Scientists and Technologists

$88,720

Median pay in the US. 13,060 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,920Top 10%: $145,280

Animal Scientists

$68,940

Median pay in the US. 3,100 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,350Top 10%: $166,000

Common questions

The median agriculture bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $39,567 in their first year and $52,367 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024