CU Boulder Anthropology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Anthropology
- Public university
- Boulder, CO
- About 66 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
CU Boulder anthropology graduates earn more than graduates of most anthropology programs nationally, $36,822 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,962. It is one of the higher-paying anthropology degrees in Colorado.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Colorado and national columns are the medians across all anthropology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, CU Boulder graduates earn more than the national figure and about $7,592 more than the Colorado median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado anthropology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado 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 36% 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 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 $212 a month, or 6.9% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
79% of graduates (31 of 39) were working in Colorado one year after graduating. Prices in the Boulder area are about 5% above the national average, so a $36,822 salary here buys what about $35,001 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 anthropology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$103,410Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Forensic Science Technicians
$84,010Median pay in Colorado. 510 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Anthropologists and Archeologists
$68,620Median pay in Colorado. 250 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About CU Boulder
Anthropology ranks 27th of 39 bachelor's programs at CU Boulder by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($88,957), Computer Engineering ($86,211), and Aerospace Engineering ($81,835).
Other anthropology bachelor's programs near Boulder
Common questions
The median graduate earns $36,822 one year after graduating and $49,958 five years after. The median across anthropology bachelor's programs in Colorado is $27,178.
The median federal loan balance is $20,000, which ranks 2nd lowest of 5 anthropology bachelor's programs in Colorado. That works out to about $212 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 81%.
Most do. 79% (31 of 39) were working in Colorado 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 Colorado 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 anthropology 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