IU Bloomington Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Public university
- Bloomington, IN
- About 187 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
IU Bloomington liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $35,775 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $22,842 in federal loans, less than at 78% of liberal arts and general studies programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying liberal arts and general studies degrees in Indiana.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Indiana and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, IU Bloomington graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Indiana median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Indiana liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Indiana 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 32% 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. They also borrowed less. 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 $242 a month, or 8.1% 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. Separately, 60 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $23,052.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
66% of graduates (143 of 218) were working in Indiana one year after graduating. Prices in the Bloomington area are about 5% below the national average, so a $35,775 salary here buys what about $37,625 buys in a typical US city.
About IU Bloomington
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 22nd of 43 bachelor's programs at IU Bloomington by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($77,909), Nursing ($71,458), and Business ($71,100).
Other liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs near Bloomington
Common questions
The median graduate earns $35,775 one year after graduating and $47,380 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs in Indiana is $35,853.
The median federal loan balance is $22,842, which ranks 3rd lowest of 17 liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs in Indiana. That works out to about $242 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 64% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 73%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Indiana programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 66% (143 of 218) were working in Indiana 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 Indiana 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 liberal arts and general studies 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