CU Boulder Economics (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Economics
- Public university
- Boulder, CO
- About 272 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
CU Boulder economics graduates earn about what economics graduates earn nationally, $51,521 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $17,119 in federal loans, less than at 83% of economics programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying economics 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 economics bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, CU Boulder graduates earn about the national figure and about $8,362 more than the Colorado median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado economics 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 55% 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 $5,192 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $181 a month, or 4.2% 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, 37 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $46,578.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
70% of graduates (85 of 122) were working in Colorado one year after graduating. Prices in the Boulder area are about 5% above the national average, so a $51,521 salary here buys what about $48,973 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 economics, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$72,900Median pay in Colorado. 18,310 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$93,050Median pay in Colorado. 27,880 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Data Scientists
$117,400Median pay in Colorado. 6,280 people work in this job in Colorado. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$50,430Median pay in Colorado. 100 people work in this job in Colorado. 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.
About CU Boulder
Economics ranks 12th 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 economics bachelor's programs near Boulder
Common questions
The median graduate earns $51,521 one year after graduating and $79,838 five years after. The median across economics bachelor's programs in Colorado is $51,521.
The median federal loan balance is $17,119, which ranks the lowest of 6 economics bachelor's programs in Colorado. That works out to about $181 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 33% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 43%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less.
Most do. 70% (85 of 122) 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 economics 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