Which New York area studies program has the lowest debt?

Cornell University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,625, with first-year pay of $43,831.

How much do area studies graduates earn in New York?

The median across 8 New York area studies bachelor's programs is $37,041 in the first year after graduating and $76,119 five years after.

How many area studies bachelor's programs are in New York?

8 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Area Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in New York, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Area Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New York area studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,041 in their first year, $3,195 more than the national median. Cornell University reports the highest first-year pay ($43,831), and Cornell University the lowest median debt ($17,625).

Median first-year pay$37,041National $33,846

Median pay after 5 years$76,119National $59,081

Median federal debt$22,305National $20,925

Debt-to-earnings58%National 61%

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	Cornell UniversityIthaca · private nonprofit	$43,831	$81,545	$17,625	40%
2	Columbia UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$41,479	$78,037	$22,486	54%
3	Fordham UniversityBronx · private nonprofit	$40,811	$74,201	$26,884	66%
4	Hobart William Smith CollegesGeneva · private nonprofit	$39,939	Not reported	$24,250	61%
5	Barnard CollegeNew York · private nonprofit	$34,142	Not reported	$19,000	56%
6	University at AlbanyAlbany · public	$32,808	Not reported	$22,305	68%
7	Vassar CollegePoughkeepsie · private nonprofit	$22,741	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Queens CollegeQueens · public	$16,733	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Vassar College and Queens College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York area studies program

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

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

Cornell University in Ithaca reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,831. Its median federal debt is $17,625.

Area Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked64 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 York rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the area 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