Tufts University Sociology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Sociology
- Private nonprofit university
- Medford, MA
- About 47 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Tufts University sociology graduates earn more than graduates of most sociology programs nationally, $47,859 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,000 in federal loans, less than at 91% of sociology programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying sociology degrees in Massachusetts.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Massachusetts and national columns are the medians across all sociology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts sociology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Massachusetts medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $159 a month, or 4.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Boston area are about 8% above the national average, so a $47,859 salary here buys what about $44,205 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
$63,480Median pay in Massachusetts. 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
$106,530Median pay in Massachusetts. 250 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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 Tufts University
Sociology ranks 13th of 22 bachelor's programs at Tufts University by first-year earnings. The top three are Mathematics ($110,512), Computer Science ($105,659), and Mechanical Engineering ($78,441).
Other sociology bachelor's programs near Medford
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,859 one year after graduating. The median across sociology bachelor's programs in Massachusetts is $37,541.
The median federal loan balance is $15,000, which ranks the lowest of 20 sociology bachelor's programs in Massachusetts. That works out to about $159 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 31% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%.
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 Massachusetts 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