How much debt do Amherst College computer science graduates have?

The median federal loan balance is $16,750, which ranks 4th lowest of 18 computer science bachelor's programs in Massachusetts. That works out to about $178 a month over 10 years.

Is a computer science degree from Amherst College worth it?

On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 17% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Massachusetts programs report higher pay.

Amherst College Computer Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

Bachelor's in Computer Science
Private nonprofit college
Amherst, MA
About 55 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Amherst College computer science graduates earn more than graduates of most computer science programs nationally, $100,596 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $16,750 in federal loans, less than at 83% of computer science programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying computer science degrees in Massachusetts.

First-year earnings$100,59691st percentile of 331 programs nationally

Earnings after 5 years$194,75194% more than year one

Median federal debt$16,7504th lowest of 18 Massachusetts programs

Debt-to-earnings17%Massachusetts median 29%, national 34%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Massachusetts and national columns are the medians across all computer science bachelor's programs that report the figure.

	Amherst College	Massachusetts	National
Earnings, 1 year after graduating	$100,596	$86,061	$70,400
Earnings, 5 years after graduating	$194,751	$148,489	$105,613
Median federal debt at graduation	$16,750	$24,285	$23,308
Debt as share of first-year pay	17%	29%	34%
Programs compared		20	331

Five years out, Amherst College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $46,262 more than the Massachusetts median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts computer science program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Massachusetts medians.

Amherst CollegeOther Massachusetts programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay rises about 94% between the first and fifth year.

Amherst College grads, year 1$100,596

Amherst College grads, year 5$194,751

All Massachusetts computer science grads, year 5$148,489

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $178 a month, or 2.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

Prices in the Amherst Town area are about the same as the national average.

Careers this field leads to

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

Software Developers

$165,210

Median pay in Massachusetts. 48,190 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $102,810Top 10%: $213,970

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$214,960

Median pay in Massachusetts. 24,910 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $134,390Top 10%: $308,250

Data Scientists

$131,750

Median pay in Massachusetts. 9,420 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,030Top 10%: $206,220

Information Security Analysts

$136,550

Median pay in Massachusetts. 6,100 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $85,790Top 10%: $226,190

About Amherst College

Tuition and fees	$70,480 / year
Average net price after aid	$23,367 / year
Admission rate	9%
Graduation rate (within 6 years)	94%
Undergraduate students	1,911

Computer Science ranks 1st of 11 bachelor's programs at Amherst College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($100,596), Economics ($90,568), and Mathematics ($78,500).

Other computer science bachelor's programs near Amherst

School	Distance	Year 1 pay	Debt
Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA · private nonprofit		$100,596	$16,750
UMass AmherstAmherst, MA · public	1 mi	$88,554	$23,569
Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA · private nonprofit	7 mi	$66,981	$19,000
Mount Holyoke CollegeSouth Hadley, MA · private nonprofit	9 mi	$71,672	$21,500
Western New England UniversitySpringfield, MA · private nonprofit	18 mi	$79,990	$26,659
Westfield StateWestfield, MA · public	22 mi	$66,349	$27,000
WPIWorcester, MA · private nonprofit	37 mi	$93,888	$27,000
College of the Holy CrossWorcester, MA · private nonprofit	37 mi	$74,842	$27,000
Williams CollegeWilliamstown, MA · private nonprofit	42 mi	$110,814	$12,208

Common questions

The median graduate earns $100,596 one year after graduating and $194,751 five years after. The median across computer science bachelor's programs in Massachusetts is $86,061.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Massachusetts comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the computer science program.

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
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

Computer Science bachelor's programs in Massachusetts, ranked20 programs by pay and debt Computer Science bachelor's programs in the US, ranked331 programs by pay and debt All Amherst College programs, ranked11 programs by pay and debt