Grand Total, All Reporting Institutions
Four-Year Bachelor's Degree
Wage Outcomes


The four-year bachelor degree serves a variety of purposes. A degree at this level is designed to demonstrate that the graduate has a broad and general education, combined with a focus on a subject of interest. In the liberal arts and sciences, the area of focus serves to engage the student's interest while sharpening their skills of analysis, inquiry, and communication (among others) while providing a background for further study. In many programs, graduate or professional study beyond the bachelor degree is the primary goal.

Other programs may be preparation for a non-academic career following graduation. Business, engineering, and teacher preparation programs are traditional examples of these.



Wage Outcomes, 2020 Calendar Year
Grand Total, All Reporting Institutions, Four-Year Bachelor's Degree
Earnings in 2020Median WagePercentage of Graduates w/ Reported Wage
20 Years (1999-00 Graduates) $76,62935%
15 Years (2004-05 Graduates) $71,07237%
10 Years (2009-10 Graduates) $63,24538%
8 Years (2011-12 Graduates) $60,37539%
5 Years (2014-15 Graduates) $53,38940%
3 Years (2016-17 Graduates) $48,65942%
18 Months (2018-19 Graduates) $39,88343%
Only years/programs meeting disclosure rules will be displayed to protect individual confidentiality.

Wages in 2020
Years Post-Completion10th Percentile25th PercentileMedian75th Percentile90th Percentile
80% of graduates with full-time wages fall within this range
20 Years (1999-00 Graduates) $30,094$50,813$76,629$121,678$191,697
15 Years (2004-05 Graduates) $31,276$48,568$71,072$109,660$166,887
10 Years (2009-10 Graduates) $28,370$45,181$63,245$93,890$134,694
8 Years (2011-12 Graduates) $26,888$43,229$60,375$86,773$122,103
5 Years (2014-15 Graduates) $23,009$37,983$53,389$74,351$100,982
3 Years (2016-17 Graduates) $18,048$32,745$48,659$66,919$89,100
18 Months (2018-19 Graduates) $12,221$23,270$39,883$58,691$75,790

As reminder, the median value represents the very middle value of the sample of values (wage or debt) sorted from low to high. This value is found in the middle line of the barcharts.
The remaining values in the chart are constructed similarly, to display how wages and earnings are distributed. Thus, while the median tells us the middle wage, the values for the 25th and 75th percentiles tell us that half of the graduates with wages fall between those two values. Likewise, 80% of reported wages fall between the 10th and 90th percentiles. The length of each bar section clue to the dispersion in the data - that is, how much earnings can vary within a range a group of individuals.
Top 10 Largest Programs at Four-Year Bachelor's Degree Level, 2020 Median Wages Three Years Post-Completion
InstitutionProgram TitleMedian Wage
Liberty UniversityPsychology, General (420101)$35,745
Liberty UniversityMulti-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (309999)$44,429
Liberty UniversityReligion/Religious Studies (380201)$36,578
Liberty UniversityBusiness Administration and Management, General (520201)$50,819
University of VirginiaLiberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies (240101)$57,713
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityPsychology, General (420101)$36,018
Liberty UniversityCriminal Justice/Safety Studies (430104)$47,565
Liberty UniversityRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$65,711
University of VirginiaEconomics, General (450601)$74,573
James Madison UniversitySpeech Communication and Rhetoric (090101)$48,086

NOTE: Fewer than 10 programs may be displayed if they disclosure rules for providing wage outcome data are not met.
Top 25 Programs by Enrollment
Top 25 Programs by Degrees Awarded


Graduate Debt
Four-Year Bachelor's Degree
Student Loans



Known Debt at Graduation of Student Borrowers
Year% of grads25th PercentileMedianEstimated Payment on Median DebtMean75th Percentile
2017-1862%$17,740$26,720$283$30,014$37,104
2018-1961%$17,500$26,716$283$30,237$37,000
2019-2060%$17,316$26,718$283$30,580$37,110
2020-2160%$16,666$26,232$278$30,384$37,000
2021-2257%$16,013$26,000$276$30,345$36,000

Note: The four-year bachelor’s degree mean and median debt levels reported on this site may differ from that reported by individual institutions. Many institutions report indebtedness based on the Common Data Set definition, which limits the indebtedness level reported to include only those students who entered the institution as first-time in college (FTIC) students. The inclusion of graduates who entered as transfer students may tend to lower the overall mean or median debt level because it does not include any debt that transfer students acquired while attending previous institutions outside Virginia and relatively few transfers from Virginia’s two-year colleges incur debt prior to transfer. Repayment estimates assume a standard 10-year repayment rate, and a 5% interest rate for undegraduate loans (for which multiple interest rates exist) and 6.8% for graduate and professional programs. Borrowers with federal loans may be eligible for Income Driven Repayment, which may result in lower payments.


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