McKendree University Sociology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Sociology
- Private nonprofit university
- Lebanon, IL
- About 18 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
McKendree University sociology graduates earn more than graduates of most sociology programs nationally, $40,015 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. It is one of the higher-paying sociology degrees in Illinois.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all sociology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, McKendree University graduates earn about the national figure but about $2,104 less than the Illinois median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois sociology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 25% between the first and fifth year.
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 $286 a month, or 8.6% 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, 24 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $20,046.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
73% of graduates (29 of 40) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the St. Louis area are about 5% below the national average, so a $40,015 salary here buys what about $42,082 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 sociology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Social Science Research Assistants
$64,890Median pay in Illinois. 250 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
Sociologists
$140,770Median pay in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About McKendree University
Sociology ranks 8th of 12 bachelor's programs at McKendree University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($73,156), Accounting ($55,313), and Mathematics ($51,157).
Other sociology bachelor's programs near Lebanon
Common questions
The median graduate earns $40,015 one year after graduating and $49,911 five years after. The median across sociology bachelor's programs in Illinois is $34,769.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 11th lowest of 16 sociology bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 67% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%.
Most do. 73% (29 of 40) were working in Illinois 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 Illinois 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 sociology 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