US College Programs

Sociology (Bachelor's) Programs in Virginia, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 11 programs report first-year pay
  • 11 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Sociology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Virginia sociology bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,946 in their first year, $3,847 more than the national median. UVA reports the highest first-year pay ($45,786), and JMU the lowest median debt ($19,168).

Median first-year pay$37,946National $34,099
Median pay after 5 years$53,416National $50,382
Median federal debt$25,274National $25,000
Debt-to-earnings68%National 72%

All 11 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.

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Virginia sociology program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. UVA$45,786
  2. Randolph-Macon College$39,656
  3. Roanoke College$38,983
  4. George Mason$38,916
  5. Virginia Tech$38,768

Lowest median debt

  1. JMU$19,168
  2. UVA$20,500
  3. George Mason$20,514
  4. Virginia Tech$22,859
  5. University of Mary Washington$23,500

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. UVA45%
  2. George Mason53%
  3. Virginia Tech59%
  4. JMU61%
  5. University of Mary Washington66%

"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 sociology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Social Science Research Assistants

$53,260

Median pay in Virginia. 700 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $42,550Top 10%: $83,760

Sociologists

$106,030

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

UVA in Charlottesville reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,786. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

Related pages

Sociology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked397 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 Virginia rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the sociology 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024