How much do Maryland college graduates earn?

The median bachelor's program in Maryland pays its graduates $41,095 in their first year, the median associate's program $41,120, and the median certificate program $34,004.

How much student debt do Maryland graduates have?

The median bachelor's program in Maryland leaves its graduates with $24,415 in federal debt (national $25,000), the median associate's program $13,836 (national $15,186), and the median certificate program $12,583 (national $10,780).

How many Maryland colleges report graduate pay?

57 Maryland schools report first-year pay for at least one program, 455 programs in all. 49 of them have at least one program with its own page here.

Maryland Colleges and Majors, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

455 programs report first-year pay
49 schools with program pages
27 field rankings

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BEA price parities 2024

The short answer

The median Maryland bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,095 in their first year, $1,054 more than the national median. Of the 22 bachelor's fields ranked in Maryland, nursing pays the most ($79,291) and fine and studio arts the least ($24,264). The median bachelor's program leaves its graduates with $24,415 in federal debt, compared with $25,000 nationally.

Median first-year pay, bachelor's$41,095Across 345 programs. National $40,042

Median pay after 5 years, bachelor's$62,669Across 331 programs. National $57,933

Median federal debt, bachelor's$24,415Across 376 programs. National $25,000

Prices compared with the US5% higherBEA price level 105.0, US average 100

Pay and debt by credential

Medians across every Maryland program at each credential that reports the figure, next to the national median.

Credential	Programs	Year 1 pay	National	Debt	National
Bachelor's	345	$41,095	$40,042	$24,415	$25,000
Associate's	57	$41,120	$38,507	$13,836	$15,186
Certificate	53	$34,004	$31,106	$12,583	$10,780

Bachelor's fields in Maryland, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Maryland bachelor's programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Nursing (BSN)	12	$79,291	$25,125
2	Computer Science	5	$71,795	$20,340
3	Accounting	10	$64,431	$24,750
4	Computer and Information Science	10	$61,494	$22,000
5	Information Science	7	$61,290	$23,250
6	Mathematics	5	$56,443	$19,500
7	Teacher Education	8	$52,072	$26,000
8	Business Administration	12	$51,563	$25,000
9	Economics	7	$51,483	$21,920
10	Criminal Justice	8	$41,106	$26,250
11	Political Science	10	$39,616	$24,861
12	Social Work	7	$37,612	$25,789
13	Communications	10	$36,880	$25,500
14	Liberal Arts and General Studies	6	$36,337	$28,000
15	Environmental Science and Conservation	6	$35,575	$20,606
16	English	9	$35,283	$23,156
17	History	6	$34,200	$23,847
18	Sociology	9	$34,150	$27,000
19	Biology	14	$33,897	$26,000
20	Psychology	17	$31,463	$25,283
21	Kinesiology and Exercise Science	7	$31,403	$25,697
22	Fine and Studio Arts	6	$24,264	$24,432

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

Associate's fields in Maryland, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Maryland associate's programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Nursing (ADN)	12	$73,334	$18,500
2	Diagnostic and Treatment Professions	8	$57,189	$18,500
3	Liberal Arts and General Studies	15	$26,448	$10,200

Certificate fields in Maryland, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Maryland certificate programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Practical Nursing	6	$51,369	$21,410
Cosmetology	10	$16,607	$12,042

49 Maryland schools

Every Maryland school with at least one program page. School names link to the school's page, which ranks all its programs. Schools with one program link straight to that program.

School	City	Type	Programs
Allegany College of Maryland	Cumberland	Public	7
Anne Arundel Community College	Arnold	Public	4
Aspen Beauty Academy of LaurelCosmetology (Certificate)	Laurel	For-profit	1
Aveda Institute-MarylandCosmetology (Certificate)	Bel Air	For-profit	1
Award Beauty SchoolCosmetology (Certificate)	Hagerstown	For-profit	1
Baltimore City Community College	Baltimore	Public	3
Bowie State	Bowie	Public	12
Carroll Community College	Westminster	Public	3
College of Southern Maryland	La Plata	Public	2
Community College of Baltimore County	Baltimore	Public	12
Coppin State	Baltimore	Public	9
Cortiva Institute (Maryland)	Linthicum	For-profit	2
Del-Mar-Va Beauty AcademyCosmetology (Certificate)	Salisbury	For-profit	1
Fortis Institute-Towson	Towson	For-profit	11
Frederick Community College	Frederick	Public	5
Frostburg State	Frostburg	Public	21
Garrett CollegeLiberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's)	McHenry	Public	1
Goucher College	Baltimore	Private nonprofit	5
Hagerstown Community College	Hagerstown	Public	10
Hair AcademyCosmetology (Certificate)	New Carrollton	For-profit	1
Harford Community College	Bel Air	Public	2
Hood College	Frederick	Private nonprofit	6
Howard Community College	Columbia	Public	4
Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore	Private nonprofit	15
Loyola University Maryland	Baltimore	Private nonprofit	14
Maryland Beauty Academy of EssexCosmetology (Certificate)	Baltimore	For-profit	1
Maryland Institute College of Art	Baltimore	Private nonprofit	3
McDaniel College	Westminster	Private nonprofit	7
Montgomery Beauty SchoolCosmetology (Certificate)	Silver Spring	For-profit	1
Montgomery College	Rockville	Public	2
Morgan State	Baltimore	Public	23
Mount St. Mary's University	Emmitsburg	Private nonprofit	8
Notre Dame of Maryland University	Baltimore	Private nonprofit	2
Prince George's Community College	Largo	Public	5
Salisbury University	Salisbury	Public	29
St. John's College (Maryland)Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's)	Annapolis	Private nonprofit	1
St. Mary's College of Maryland	St. Mary's City	Public	7
Stevenson University	Owings Mills	Private nonprofit	16
Temple-A Paul Mitchell Partner SchoolCosmetology (Certificate)	Frederick	For-profit	1
Towson University	Towson	Public	34
UMBC	Baltimore	Public	27
UMGC	Adelphi	Public	26
University of Baltimore	Baltimore	Public	7
University of Maryland	College Park	Public	51
University of Maryland Baltimore	Baltimore	Public	2
University of Maryland Eastern Shore	Princess Anne	Public	12
Washington Adventist UniversityNursing (BSN)	Takoma Park	Private nonprofit	1
Washington College	Chestertown	Private nonprofit	6
Wor-Wic Community College	Salisbury	Public	5

"Programs" counts the school's programs that report first-year pay.

Common questions

The median nursing bachelor's program in Maryland pays its graduates $79,291 in their first year, the most of 22 bachelor's fields ranked here. Computer science is next, at $71,795.

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.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
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 Maryland figures when their main campus is in another state.
Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024