Which Pennsylvania geology and earth science program has the lowest debt?

Penn State reports the lowest median federal debt, $26,000, with first-year pay of $53,908.

How much do geology and earth science graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 7 Pennsylvania geology and earth science bachelor's programs is $38,652 in the first year after graduating and $61,088 five years after.

How many geology and earth science bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

7 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Geology and Earth Science (Bachelor's) Programs in Pennsylvania, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania geology and earth science bachelor's program pays its graduates $38,652 in their first year, $1,353 less than the national median. Penn State reports the highest first-year pay ($53,908), and Penn State the lowest median debt ($26,000).

Median first-year pay$38,652National $40,005

Median pay after 5 years$61,088National $57,967

Median federal debt$26,167National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings68%National 60%

All 7 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	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$53,908	$82,224	$26,000	48%
2	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg · public	$43,112	$55,028	$29,725	69%
3	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock · public	$41,094	$60,323	$27,937	68%
4	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$38,652	$59,465	$26,000	67%
5	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$38,603	$55,447	Not reported	Not reported
6	Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana · public	$34,617	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown · public	$28,040	$71,514	$26,334	94%

Pennsylvania Western University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania geology and earth science program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Penn State$53,908
Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania$43,112
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania$41,094
University of Pittsburgh$38,652
Pennsylvania Western University$38,603

Lowest median debt

Penn State$26,000
University of Pittsburgh$26,000
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania$26,334
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania$27,937
Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania$29,725

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 geology and earth science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Natural Sciences Managers

$137,900

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 7,980 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $59,040Top 10%: $312,510

Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers

$84,180

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 910 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,250Top 10%: $129,000

Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians

$47,380

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 240 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $32,200Top 10%: $66,770

Hydrologists

$91,730

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 160 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,300Top 10%: $141,070

Common questions

Penn State in University Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,908. Its median federal debt is $26,000.

Geology and Earth Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked95 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 Pennsylvania rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the geology and earth science 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