Which New Jersey liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

Thomas Edison State University reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,766, with first-year pay of $49,779.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in New Jersey?

The median across 12 New Jersey liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs is $38,032 in the first year after graduating and $55,529 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs are in New Jersey?

12 New Jersey programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in New Jersey, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New Jersey liberal arts and general studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $38,032 in their first year, $1,875 more than the national median. Thomas Edison State University reports the highest first-year pay ($49,779), and Thomas Edison State University the lowest median debt ($19,766).

Median first-year pay$38,032National $36,157

Median pay after 5 years$55,529National $48,575

Median federal debt$26,750National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings67%National 73%

All 12 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	Thomas Edison State UniversityTrenton · public	$49,779	$54,955	$19,766	40%
2	Rowan UniversityGlassboro · public	$43,486	$54,186	$27,000	62%
3	Stockton UniversityGalloway · public	$42,209	$56,142	$27,000	64%
4	Rider UniversityLawrenceville · private nonprofit	$41,315	$65,807	$22,233	54%
5	Ramapo College of New JerseyMahwah · public	$40,331	$55,423	$27,625	68%
6	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan CampusTeaneck · private nonprofit	$39,071	$50,319	$26,000	67%
7	Seton Hall UniversitySouth Orange · private nonprofit	$36,993	$64,659	$25,000	68%
8	RutgersNew Brunswick · public	$35,768	Not reported	$23,000	64%
9	Centenary UniversityHackettstown · private nonprofit	$32,988	Not reported	$27,000	82%
10	William Paterson University of New JerseyWayne · public	$32,581	$55,634	$26,750	82%
11	Drew UniversityMadison · private nonprofit	$28,961	$57,346	$27,000	93%
12	Montclair StateMontclair · public	$22,201	$54,979	$25,967	117%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New Jersey liberal arts and general studies 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 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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.

Common questions

Thomas Edison State University in Trenton reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,779. Its median federal debt is $19,766.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked395 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in New Jersey, ranked19 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 liberal arts and general studies 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