Carleton College Experimental Psychology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Research and Experimental Psychology
- Private nonprofit college
- Northfield, MN
- About 29 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Carleton College experimental psychology graduates earn about what experimental psychology graduates earn nationally, $39,238 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $16,700 in federal loans, less than at 83% of experimental psychology programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying experimental psychology degrees in Minnesota.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Minnesota and national columns are the medians across all experimental psychology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota experimental psychology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Minnesota medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $177 a month, or 5.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $39,238 salary here buys what about $45,704 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to experimental psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Child, Family, and School Social Workers
$67,450Median pay in Minnesota. 6,540 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$89,950Median pay in Minnesota. 6,760 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
$107,030Median pay in Minnesota. 1,290 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$44,920Median pay in Minnesota. 300 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Carleton College
Experimental Psychology ranks 4th of 7 bachelor's programs at Carleton College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($88,132), Economics ($66,567), and Geology and Earth Science ($40,371).
Other experimental psychology bachelor's programs near Northfield
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,238 one year after graduating. The median across experimental psychology bachelor's programs in Minnesota is $36,600.
The median federal loan balance is $16,700, which ranks the lowest of 5 experimental psychology bachelor's programs in Minnesota. That works out to about $177 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 43% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 63%.
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 Minnesota 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 experimental psychology 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