Which Wisconsin psychology program has the lowest debt?

UW-Stout reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,190, with first-year pay of $32,996.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 22 Wisconsin psychology bachelor's programs is $35,108 in the first year after graduating and $48,637 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Wisconsin?

22 Wisconsin programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 22 of them also report federal debt.

Psychology (Bachelor's) Programs in Wisconsin, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

22 programs report first-year pay
22 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Wisconsin psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,108 in their first year, $3,629 more than the national median. Marian University (Wisconsin) reports the highest first-year pay ($45,416), and UW-Stout the lowest median debt ($21,190).

Median first-year pay$35,108National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$48,637National $49,019

Median federal debt$26,000National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings71%National 78%

All 22 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	Marian University (Wisconsin)Fond Du Lac · private nonprofit	$45,416	Not reported	$28,468	63%
2	Lakeland UniversityPlymouth · private nonprofit	$42,355	$48,637	$38,866	92%
3	Wisconsin Lutheran CollegeMilwaukee · private nonprofit	$39,874	$54,940	$27,000	68%
4	UW-WhitewaterWhitewater · public	$38,376	$50,908	$26,000	68%
5	UW-SuperiorSuperior · public	$38,262	Not reported	$24,833	65%
6	UW-Eau ClaireEau Claire · public	$38,259	$48,478	$22,500	59%
7	Edgewood UniversityMadison · private nonprofit	$37,954	$48,436	$27,000	71%
8	Carroll UniversityWaukesha · private nonprofit	$37,079	$53,733	$27,000	73%
9	UW-River FallsRiver Falls · public	$36,970	$46,229	$23,000	62%
10	UW-Green BayGreen Bay · public	$36,068	$46,134	$25,737	71%
11	UW-OshkoshOshkosh · public	$35,139	$47,588	$26,000	74%
12	Marquette UniversityMilwaukee · private nonprofit	$35,076	$58,921	$24,891	71%
13	Mount Mary UniversityMilwaukee · private nonprofit	$34,411	$45,062	$26,987	78%
14	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee · public	$33,906	$50,559	$27,000	80%
15	UW-Stevens PointStevens Point · public	$33,226	$46,774	$24,400	73%
16	UW-StoutMenomonie · public	$32,996	$51,905	$21,190	64%
17	UW-PlattevillePlatteville · public	$32,915	$50,640	$24,225	74%
18	UW-MadisonMadison · public	$31,985	$61,607	$21,215	66%
19	UW-La CrosseLa Crosse · public	$31,327	$56,291	$21,935	70%
20	Saint Norbert CollegeDe Pere · private nonprofit	$30,866	$49,008	$27,000	87%
21	UW-ParksideKenosha · public	$29,952	Not reported	$24,375	81%
22	Carthage CollegeKenosha · private nonprofit	$27,741	$55,646	$23,250	84%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin psychology program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 22 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UW-Stout$21,190
UW-Madison$21,215
UW-La Crosse$21,935
UW-Eau Claire$22,500
UW-River Falls$23,000

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

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$113,360

Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,150 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $76,360Top 10%: $166,270

Social Science Research Assistants

$48,090

Median pay in Wisconsin. 110 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $34,710Top 10%: $71,050

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Marian University (Wisconsin) in Fond Du Lac reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,416. Its median federal debt is $28,468.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 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 Wisconsin rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the psychology 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