Which state pays ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's graduates the most?

California, where the median program pays its graduates $30,984 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. New York is next, at $29,823.

How much debt do ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $22,938 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 69% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

Q: Which ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's program pays the most?

Columbia University in New York reports the highest first-year pay of the 84 programs ranked here, $55,206. Its median federal debt is $18,799.

84 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $31,311 in their first year and $51,370 five years after. California has the highest state median ($30,984), and New York the lowest ($29,823). The median program leaves its graduates with $22,938 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$31,311Across 84 programs

Median pay after 5 years$51,370Across 71 programs

Median federal debt$22,938Across 96 programs

Debt-to-earnings69%Across 76 programs

All 84 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	Columbia UniversityNew York, NY · private nonprofit	$55,206	Not adjusted	Not reported	$18,799	34%
2	Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC · private nonprofit	$51,388	Not adjusted	Not reported	$17,000	33%
3	Cal State East BayHayward, CA · public	$47,511	$42,911	Not reported	$18,638	39%
4	American UniversityWashington, DC · private nonprofit	$46,206	Not adjusted	$66,897	$25,000	54%
5	Wellesley CollegeWellesley, MA · private nonprofit	$43,926	Not adjusted	$60,668	Not reported	Not reported
6	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth, MN · public	$41,926	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	UMass BostonBoston, MA · public	$41,872	$39,593	$47,839	$26,965	64%
8	Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · private nonprofit	$41,156	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	University of New HampshireDurham, NH · public	$40,720	Not adjusted	$56,495	$25,832	63%
10	ASUTempe, AZ · public	$40,719	$40,445	$51,370	$23,000	56%
11	Cal Poly PomonaPomona, CA · public	$40,253	$36,356	$53,756	$13,486	34%
12	Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA · private nonprofit	$40,120	Not adjusted	Not reported	$18,032	45%
13	UConnStorrs, CT · public	$39,343	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,262	67%
14	Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL · private nonprofit	$39,012	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM · public	$38,260	$41,491	$47,937	$25,000	65%
16	University of DelawareNewark, DE · public	$38,124	$38,197	Not reported	$25,000	66%
17	CU DenverDenver, CO · public	$37,621	Not adjusted	$50,315	$28,375	75%
18	UNC CharlotteCharlotte, NC · public	$37,411	$39,661	$43,026	$31,000	83%
19	UT AustinAustin, TX · public	$37,046	$38,169	$55,202	$26,000	70%
20	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$36,426	$37,332	Not reported	$26,825	74%
21	Lehman CollegeBronx, NY · public	$36,292	$33,628	Not reported	$18,896	52%
22	Sonoma StateRohnert Park, CA · public	$35,263	$31,849	$58,913	$19,187	54%
23	Brandeis UniversityWaltham, MA · private nonprofit	$35,057	Not adjusted	Not reported	$24,226	69%
24	Metropolitan State University of DenverDenver, CO · public	$34,906	$33,872	Not reported	$31,966	92%
25	University of MarylandCollege Park, MD · public	$34,777	$33,134	$59,904	$19,500	56%
26	UC BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · public	$34,559	$31,213	$60,614	$15,740	46%
27	UVACharlottesville, VA · public	$34,197	$33,824	$58,297	$14,100	41%
28	Hunter CollegeNew York, NY · public	$34,007	$31,511	$56,639	$10,698	31%
29	University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI · public	$33,991	$35,327	$59,348	$14,802	44%
30	UICChicago, IL · public	$33,366	$33,380	$45,248	$19,448	58%
31	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$33,000	$33,461	$48,333	$21,964	67%
32	UIUCChampaign, IL · public	$32,856	$32,870	Not reported	$23,402	71%
33	Towson UniversityTowson, MD · public	$32,740	$31,193	$59,315	$22,250	68%
34	Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · private nonprofit	$32,624	Not adjusted	Not reported	$13,107	40%
35	UC DavisDavis, CA · public	$32,563	$29,410	$56,498	$14,155	43%
36	Portland StatePortland, OR · public	$32,441	Not adjusted	$55,563	$26,500	82%
37	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA · public	$32,341	$29,210	$58,175	$13,500	42%
38	Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn, NY · public	$32,083	$29,728	$50,335	$14,094	44%
39	Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH · private nonprofit	$31,967	Not adjusted	Not reported	$15,157	47%
40	Gallaudet UniversityWashington, DC · private nonprofit	$31,541	Not adjusted	$48,417	$28,125	89%
41	University of WashingtonSeattle, WA · public	$31,459	$29,397	$57,840	$15,056	48%
42	UC RiversideRiverside, CA · public	$31,443	$28,399	$53,291	$23,000	73%
43	Ohio StateColumbus, OH · public	$31,179	$33,607	$51,643	$22,056	71%
44	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz, CA · public	$31,140	$28,125	$56,551	$19,747	63%
45	San Francisco StateSan Francisco, CA · public	$31,001	$27,999	$55,308	$17,875	58%
46	UC San DiegoLa Jolla, CA · public	$30,984	$27,984	$59,797	$23,747	77%
47	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata, CA · public	$30,844	$27,858	Not reported	$15,533	50%
48	Sacramento StateSacramento, CA · public	$30,628	$27,663	$52,252	$18,120	59%
49	RutgersNew Brunswick, NJ · public	$30,296	$27,844	$34,770	$26,900	89%
50	University of LouisvilleLouisville, KY · public	$29,990	Not adjusted	Not reported	$32,181	107%
51	UCLALos Angeles, CA · public	$29,914	$27,018	$61,195	$15,000	50%
52	University at AlbanyAlbany, NY · public	$29,823	$27,634	Not reported	$26,000	87%
53	UNC GreensboroGreensboro, NC · public	$29,723	$31,511	$38,469	$27,210	92%
54	VCURichmond, VA · public	$29,607	$29,284	$51,484	$26,000	88%
55	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI · public	$29,270	$31,107	$50,530	$27,011	92%
56	San Diego StateSan Diego, CA · public	$29,267	$26,433	$44,417	$20,499	70%
57	UW-MadisonMadison, WI · public	$28,841	$30,651	$52,025	$19,750	68%
58	St Olaf CollegeNorthfield, MN · private nonprofit	$28,288	Not adjusted	Not reported	$23,480	83%
59	University of Rhode IslandKingston, RI · public	$28,181	Not adjusted	Not reported	$21,875	78%
60	Spelman CollegeAtlanta, GA · private nonprofit	$28,080	Not adjusted	$48,561	$26,000	93%
61	Georgia StateAtlanta, GA · public	$27,932	Not adjusted	Not reported	$31,000	111%
62	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach, CA · public	$27,726	$25,042	$50,464	$12,187	44%
63	Cal State LALos Angeles, CA · public	$27,058	$24,438	Not reported	$22,500	83%
64	City College of New YorkNew York, NY · public	$26,973	$24,993	$43,881	$20,532	76%
65	University of ArizonaTucson, AZ · public	$26,875	Not adjusted	$45,742	$25,219	94%
66	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles, CA · private nonprofit	$26,868	$24,267	Not reported	$23,149	86%
67	CSUNNorthridge, CA · public	$26,767	$24,175	$48,239	$15,000	56%
68	UC IrvineIrvine, CA · public	$26,712	$24,126	$50,699	$18,998	71%
69	UNC Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC · public	$26,342	$27,927	$49,010	$12,870	49%
70	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia, PA · public	$26,260	$26,913	$48,727	$27,000	103%
71	University of FloridaGainesville, FL · public	$26,198	$25,333	$52,141	$22,875	87%
72	University of Puget SoundTacoma, WA · private nonprofit	$25,623	Not adjusted	Not reported	$21,215	83%
73	Cal State FullertonFullerton, CA · public	$25,305	$22,855	$54,046	$19,000	75%
74	SUNY OneontaOneonta, NY · public	$25,126	$23,282	Not reported	$26,480	105%
75	Haskell Indian Nations UniversityLawrence, KS · public	$23,887	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
76	SUNY New PaltzNew Paltz, NY · public	$23,751	$22,008	$52,686	$25,500	107%
77	UTRGVEdinburg, TX · public	$23,604	Not adjusted	Not reported	$13,000	55%
78	University of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, NE · public	$21,836	Not adjusted	Not reported	$20,527	94%
79	UH ManoaHonolulu, HI · public	$20,109	$18,289	$39,661	$20,250	101%
80	Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA · private nonprofit	$19,105	Not adjusted	$49,924	$19,000	99%
81	Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, NY · private nonprofit	$18,854	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
82	DePaul UniversityChicago, IL · private nonprofit	$18,029	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	150%
83	Brown UniversityProvidence, RI · private nonprofit	$17,527	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
84	WashUSt. Louis, MO · private nonprofit	$16,635	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

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 53 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 31, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

8 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.

Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
California	21	$30,984	$18,638
New York	9	$29,823	$23,016

Programs in 29 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

Hunter College, NY$10,698
Cal State Long Beach, CA$12,187
Cal Poly Pomona, CA$13,486
UC Santa Barbara, CA$13,500
Brooklyn College, NY$14,094
UC Davis, CA$14,155
UCLA, CA$15,000
CSUN, CA$15,000
Cal Poly Humboldt, CA$15,533
UC Berkeley, CA$15,740

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 28 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 ethnic, cultural, and gender studies, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Interpreters and Translators

$60,170

Median pay in the US. 52,060 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,070Top 10%: $103,660

Common questions

The median ethnic, cultural, and gender studies bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $31,311 in their first year and $51,370 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