Which Northwestern University major has the lowest debt?

Other Psychology graduates leave with a median of $11,630 in federal loans, the lowest among 26 Northwestern University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Northwestern University cost?

Tuition and fees are $68,322 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $29,167 a year.

How many Northwestern University programs report graduate pay?

29 bachelor's programs at Northwestern University report first-year pay, and 26 of them also report federal debt.

Northwestern University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Private nonprofit university
Evanston, IL
9,201 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

29 Northwestern University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Information Science pays the most in the first year ($102,998), and Theatre the least ($19,245). The median program pays $52,210.

Tuition and fees$68,322Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$29,167Per year

Graduation rate95%Within 6 years

Admission rate8%Of applicants

All 29 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Illinois. 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 Illinois
1	Information ScienceAbout 88 graduates a year	$102,998	Not reported	$12,000	1st of 4
2	Computer ScienceAbout 127 graduates a year	$99,981	$156,137	$14,600	3rd of 23
3	Applied MathematicsAbout 45 graduates a year	$94,684	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
4	Industrial EngineeringAbout 62 graduates a year	$89,811	$137,306	$17,912	1st of 6
5	EconomicsAbout 373 graduates a year	$84,932	$125,639	$16,227	2nd of 15
6	Human ResourcesAbout 10 graduates a year	$82,255	Not reported	$38,832	2nd of 8
7	Chemical EngineeringAbout 34 graduates a year	$80,709	$120,160	$16,500	1st of 4
8	MathematicsAbout 72 graduates a year	$79,530	$119,511	$12,418	2nd of 7
9	StatisticsAbout 61 graduates a year	$77,917	Not reported	$14,000	2nd of 4
10	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 72 graduates a year	$75,253	$104,154	$15,334	2nd of 8
11	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 45 graduates a year	$68,592	$129,919	$17,063	2nd of 5
12	Community Organization and AdvocacyAbout 80 graduates a year	$61,009	$87,763	$13,500	1st of 1
13	International RelationsAbout 28 graduates a year	$58,326	$75,031	$19,234	1st of 4
14	Political ScienceAbout 106 graduates a year	$54,737	$76,128	$16,834	2nd of 20
15	CommunicationsAbout 82 graduates a year	$52,210	$90,012	$18,112	1st of 26
16	JournalismGraduates a year not reported	$50,426	$72,140	$15,333	1st of 8
17	HistoryAbout 52 graduates a year	$50,161	$70,234	$15,917	1st of 13
18	Public PolicyAbout 36 graduates a year	$48,558	$61,965	$18,750	2nd of 3
19	PsychologyAbout 211 graduates a year	$44,088	$71,228	$14,500	1st of 35
20	Public HealthAbout 66 graduates a year	$39,956	Not reported	$14,684	4th of 6
21	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 19 graduates a year	$39,012	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 4
22	SociologyAbout 42 graduates a year	$38,402	$57,736	$14,567	4th of 16
23	Other PsychologyAbout 4 graduates a year	$36,890	$61,170	$11,630	1st of 1
24	NeuroscienceAbout 113 graduates a year	$35,334	Not reported	$16,948	2nd of 6
25	MusicAbout 77 graduates a year	$34,823	$48,276	$18,166	3rd of 13
26	AnthropologyAbout 24 graduates a year	$33,208	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 7
27	EnglishAbout 46 graduates a year	$31,748	$61,142	$15,564	11th of 18
28	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 247 graduates a year	$24,611	$50,861	$15,500	7th of 8
29	TheatreAbout 89 graduates a year	$19,245	$47,619	$17,000	11th of 14

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois 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 Illinois programs in the field do too.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Information Science$102,998
Computer Science$99,981
Applied Mathematics$94,684
Industrial Engineering$89,811
Economics$84,932

Lowest median debt

Other Psychology$11,630
Information Science$12,000
Mathematics$12,418
Community Organization and Advocacy$13,500
Statistics$14,000

Largest programs

EconomicsAbout 373 graduates a year
Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 247 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 211 graduates a year
Computer ScienceAbout 127 graduates a year
NeuroscienceAbout 113 graduates a year

Common questions

Information Science graduates earn a median of $102,998 in their first year, the most of 29 Northwestern University 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 Illinois 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