Which Iowa State major has the lowest debt?

Agricultural Business graduates leave with a median of $16,972 in federal loans, the lowest among 63 Iowa State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Iowa State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $10,787 a year, and $28,881 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $18,589 a year.

How many Iowa State programs report graduate pay?

63 bachelor's programs at Iowa State report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Iowa State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Iowa State University
Public university
Ames, IA
25,367 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

63 Iowa State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Electrical Engineering pays the most in the first year ($84,913), and Anthropology the least ($25,014). The median program pays $45,512.

In-state tuition and fees$10,787Per year. Out-of-state $28,881

Average net price after aid$18,589Per year

Graduation rate75%Within 6 years

Admission rate89%Of applicants

All 63 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Iowa" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Iowa. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Iowa
1	Electrical EngineeringAbout 112 graduates a year	$84,913	$107,338	$26,997	1st of 2
2	Computer EngineeringAbout 243 graduates a year	$79,182	$111,313	$24,337	2nd of 2
3	Computer ScienceAbout 106 graduates a year	$78,517	$108,762	$24,663	2nd of 5
4	Construction EngineeringAbout 58 graduates a year	$77,845	$95,401	$20,500	1st of 1
5	Chemical EngineeringAbout 94 graduates a year	$76,184	$96,097	$20,188	1st of 2
6	Aerospace EngineeringAbout 121 graduates a year	$75,036	$92,551	$26,572	1st of 1
7	Industrial EngineeringAbout 102 graduates a year	$74,310	$88,344	$23,750	2nd of 2
8	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 356 graduates a year	$72,900	$88,697	$23,500	2nd of 3
9	Civil EngineeringAbout 123 graduates a year	$72,502	$86,261	$25,250	1st of 2
10	Agricultural EngineeringAbout 62 graduates a year	$72,376	$77,659	$21,500	1st of 1
11	Materials EngineeringAbout 37 graduates a year	$65,831	$87,838	$23,125	1st of 1
12	Agricultural MechanizationAbout 45 graduates a year	$63,321	$73,127	$20,946	1st of 1
13	Engineering-Related FieldsAbout 84 graduates a year	$62,416	$77,775	$25,236	1st of 1
14	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 174 graduates a year	$60,397	Not reported	$24,438	2nd of 3
15	Food ScienceAbout 17 graduates a year	$60,351	$63,741	$26,254	1st of 1
16	AccountingAbout 118 graduates a year	$58,479	$73,400	$23,250	11th of 17
17	Architectural TechnologyAbout 73 graduates a year	$57,928	Not reported	$31,000	1st of 1
18	EconomicsAbout 36 graduates a year	$57,619	$81,208	$23,414	1st of 5
19	Business AdministrationAbout 345 graduates a year	$57,188	$78,149	$22,250	3rd of 20
20	FinanceAbout 212 graduates a year	$56,974	$75,665	$21,750	4th of 11
21	ArchitectureGraduates a year not reported	$54,957	$70,118	$31,000	1st of 1
22	Agricultural BusinessAbout 177 graduates a year	$53,967	$68,687	$16,972	1st of 2
23	Landscape ArchitectureGraduates a year not reported	$53,355	$62,093	$29,750	1st of 1
24	StatisticsAbout 26 graduates a year	$53,132	Not reported	$23,625	2nd of 2
25	International AgricultureAbout 31 graduates a year	$52,068	$51,601	$22,250	1st of 1
26	MathematicsAbout 59 graduates a year	$51,422	$75,294	$22,942	2nd of 3
27	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 17 graduates a year	$50,150	$54,750	$26,250	1st of 1
28	Plant ScienceAbout 112 graduates a year	$49,393	$53,958	$20,500	1st of 1
29	MarketingAbout 331 graduates a year	$48,304	$68,459	$23,250	5th of 12
30	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 66 graduates a year	$47,559	$54,845	$19,000	1st of 8
31	EntrepreneurshipAbout 48 graduates a year	$46,374	Not reported	$21,500	2nd of 2
32	Teacher EducationAbout 231 graduates a year	$45,512	$49,890	$25,000	4th of 22
33	Urban and Regional PlanningAbout 29 graduates a year	$44,146	$61,658	$27,000	1st of 1
34	ChemistryAbout 27 graduates a year	$43,870	Not reported	$23,250	2nd of 2
35	Family and Consumer SciencesAbout 7 graduates a year	$43,783	$47,252	$23,250	1st of 1
36	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 35 graduates a year	$43,520	$70,190	$19,477	1st of 4
37	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 80 graduates a year	$42,530	$63,153	$24,750	3rd of 6
38	Criminal JusticeAbout 110 graduates a year	$41,624	Not reported	$23,250	7th of 9
39	HistoryAbout 58 graduates a year	$41,294	$46,000	$26,007	1st of 4
40	Apparel and TextilesAbout 76 graduates a year	$40,849	$50,823	$23,204	2nd of 2
41	SociologyAbout 29 graduates a year	$40,602	$57,753	$21,935	2nd of 5
42	CommunicationsAbout 70 graduates a year	$40,497	$55,664	$19,425	3rd of 6
43	Animal ScienceAbout 235 graduates a year	$39,567	$55,971	$21,500	1st of 1
44	JournalismAbout 44 graduates a year	$39,347	$52,095	$23,250	2nd of 3
45	ForestryAbout 30 graduates a year	$39,337	$45,342	$19,437	1st of 1
46	MicrobiologyAbout 32 graduates a year	$39,019	$60,882	$22,500	1st of 1
47	EnglishAbout 65 graduates a year	$38,375	$41,391	$24,000	3rd of 4
48	Romance LanguagesAbout 47 graduates a year	$37,909	$47,493	$23,748	1st of 5
49	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 92 graduates a year	$37,890	$58,849	$22,227	1st of 4
50	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 216 graduates a year	$37,565	$55,046	$27,000	2nd of 4
51	Hospitality ManagementAbout 91 graduates a year	$36,743	$52,830	$20,998	1st of 1
52	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 66 graduates a year	$36,532	$44,888	$28,623	6th of 6
53	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 250 graduates a year	$36,492	$61,453	$25,425	5th of 14
54	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 48 graduates a year	$36,364	$45,407	$24,958	1st of 2
55	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 4 graduates a year	$36,006	$59,542	$25,687	3rd of 3
56	PsychologyAbout 246 graduates a year	$34,155	$50,080	$23,121	8th of 15
57	DieteticsAbout 38 graduates a year	$33,958	$53,146	$21,000	1st of 1
58	GeneticsAbout 30 graduates a year	$33,330	$55,989	$21,631	1st of 1
59	BiologyAbout 158 graduates a year	$32,528	$58,585	$24,614	11th of 17
60	Political ScienceAbout 74 graduates a year	$30,715	$61,481	$23,250	4th of 5
61	Ecology and EvolutionAbout 102 graduates a year	$29,842	$45,407	$24,347	1st of 1
62	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 19 graduates a year	$25,065	$48,394	$24,793	1st of 1
63	AnthropologyAbout 25 graduates a year	$25,014	$44,015	$27,607	2nd of 2

Program names link to the program's own page, and Iowa ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Iowa programs in the field do too.

5 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Electrical Engineering$84,913
Computer Engineering$79,182
Computer Science$78,517
Construction Engineering$77,845
Chemical Engineering$76,184

Lowest median debt

Agricultural Business$16,972
Subject-Area Teacher Education$19,000
Communications$19,425
Forestry$19,437
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology$19,477

Largest programs

Mechanical EngineeringAbout 356 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 345 graduates a year
MarketingAbout 331 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 250 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 246 graduates a year

Common questions

Electrical Engineering graduates earn a median of $84,913 in their first year, the most of 63 Iowa State bachelor's programs that report pay.

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.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 Iowa rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels