Which New Jersey economics program has the lowest debt?

Princeton University reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,250, with first-year pay of $103,041.

How much do economics graduates earn in New Jersey?

The median across 8 New Jersey economics bachelor's programs is $47,306 in the first year after graduating and $72,462 five years after.

How many economics bachelor's programs are in New Jersey?

8 New Jersey programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Economics (Bachelor's) Programs in New Jersey, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Economics

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New Jersey economics bachelor's program pays its graduates $47,306 in their first year, $4,419 less than the national median. Princeton University reports the highest first-year pay ($103,041), and Princeton University the lowest median debt ($11,250).

Median first-year pay$47,306National $51,725

Median pay after 5 years$72,462National $77,760

Median federal debt$24,233National $22,717

Debt-to-earnings52%National 43%

All 8 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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Princeton UniversityPrinceton · private nonprofit	$103,041	Not reported	$11,250	11%
2	TCNJEwing · public	$62,218	$77,796	$23,500	38%
3	RutgersNew Brunswick · public	$51,848	$87,743	$24,965	48%
4	Seton Hall UniversitySouth Orange · private nonprofit	$51,464	$75,322	$21,413	42%
5	William Paterson University of New JerseyWayne · public	$43,148	$64,426	$28,281	66%
6	Montclair StateMontclair · public	$39,375	Not reported	$25,000	63%
7	Rowan UniversityGlassboro · public	$38,580	$69,434	$21,750	56%
8	Drew UniversityMadison · private nonprofit	$33,639	$89,492	$26,914	80%

Debt and first-year pay at every New Jersey economics program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New Jersey medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Princeton University$103,041
TCNJ$62,218
Rutgers$51,848
Seton Hall University$51,464
William Paterson University of New Jersey$43,148

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

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

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

$82,200

Median pay in New Jersey. 38,140 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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.

Bottom 10%: $63,040Top 10%: $108,230

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$88,190

Median pay in New Jersey. 22,990 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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.

Bottom 10%: $49,900Top 10%: $145,010

Data Scientists

$135,280

Median pay in New Jersey. 6,430 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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.

Bottom 10%: $80,720Top 10%: $203,950

Social Science Research Assistants

$62,760

Median pay in New Jersey. 370 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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.

Bottom 10%: $37,960Top 10%: $105,390

Common questions

Princeton University in Princeton reports the highest median first-year pay, $103,041. Its median federal debt is $11,250.

Economics (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked338 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 New Jersey rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the economics 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

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024