Hobart William Smith Colleges Economics (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Economics
- Private nonprofit college
- Geneva, NY
- About 51 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Hobart William Smith Colleges economics graduates earn more than graduates of most economics programs nationally, $61,946 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, more than at 85% of economics programs in the country. Several New York programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all economics bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Hobart William Smith Colleges graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the New York median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York economics program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.
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 36% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 5.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
34% of graduates (26 of 76) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the Rochester area are about 3% below the national average, so a $61,946 salary here buys what about $63,839 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 economics, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$97,070Median pay in New York. 70,660 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$98,580Median pay in New York. 80,500 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Data Scientists
$130,460Median pay in New York. 23,970 people work in this job in New York. 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.
Social Science Research Assistants
$61,210Median pay in New York. 3,040 people work in this job in New York. 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 Hobart William Smith Colleges
Economics ranks 2nd of 12 bachelor's programs at Hobart William Smith Colleges by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($72,158), Economics ($61,946), and Communications ($50,750).
Other economics bachelor's programs near Geneva
Common questions
The median graduate earns $61,946 one year after graduating and $84,370 five years after. The median across economics bachelor's programs in New York is $50,059.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 30th lowest of 32 economics bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 44% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 43%. Compare the cost with other New York programs before deciding.
Many leave. 34% (26 of 76) were working in New York one year after graduating.
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 New York 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 economics 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