Which New York social sciences program has the lowest debt?

University at Buffalo reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,000, with first-year pay of $28,844.

How much do social sciences graduates earn in New York?

The median across 8 New York social sciences bachelor's programs is $35,607 in the first year after graduating and $56,918 five years after.

How many social sciences bachelor's programs are in New York?

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

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

8 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Social Sciences, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New York social sciences bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,607 in their first year, $1,728 less than the national median. NYU reports the highest first-year pay ($49,016), and University at Buffalo the lowest median debt ($21,000).

Median first-year pay$35,607National $37,335

Median pay after 5 years$56,918National $51,926

Median federal debt$26,593National $25,409

Debt-to-earnings73%National 67%

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	NYUNew York · private nonprofit	$49,016	$74,002	$27,000	55%
2	Manhattan UniversityRiverdale · private nonprofit	$41,062	$107,051	$26,080	64%
3	Touro UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$40,111	$47,825	$33,937	85%
4	Mercy UniversityDobbs Ferry · private nonprofit	$36,726	$44,055	$26,978	73%
5	St. Joseph's University-New YorkBrooklyn · private nonprofit	$34,488	$54,244	$24,500	71%
6	University at BuffaloBuffalo · public	$28,844	$56,927	$21,000	73%
7	Dominican University New YorkOrangeburg · private nonprofit	$28,351	$53,767	$27,000	95%
8	Bard CollegeAnnandale-On-Hudson · private nonprofit	$23,302	Not reported	$24,747	106%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every New York social sciences 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 8 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.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to social sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

$85,760

Median pay in New York. 101,410 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 87,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $56,760Top 10%: $136,260

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$97,070

Median pay in New York. 70,660 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $60,070Top 10%: $136,450

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$94,840

Median pay in New York. 38,670 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,040Top 10%: $137,370

Social Science Research Assistants

$61,210

Median pay in New York. 3,040 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $35,520Top 10%: $103,080

Common questions

NYU in New York reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,016. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Social Sciences (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked75 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 social sciences 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