US College Programs

Education (Bachelor's) Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 6 programs report first-year pay
  • 6 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Education, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Massachusetts education bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,401 in their first year, $5,259 less than the national median. Springfield College reports the highest first-year pay ($45,906), and Smith College the lowest median debt ($19,000).

Median first-year pay$33,401National $38,660
Median pay after 5 years$53,517National $47,167
Median federal debt$26,500National $26,542
Debt-to-earnings73%National 68%

All 6 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts education 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 the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Springfield College$45,906
  2. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts$39,375
  3. Smith College$33,737
  4. Salem State$33,065
  5. Merrimack College$29,368

Lowest median debt

  1. Smith College$19,000
  2. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts$25,000
  3. Springfield College$27,000
  4. Salem State$27,000
  5. Merrimack College$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Smith College56%
  2. Springfield College59%
  3. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts63%
  4. Salem State82%
  5. Merrimack College92%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Common questions

Springfield College in Springfield reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,906. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Related pages

Education (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked66 programs by pay and debt

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.
  • 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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the education bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024