Physical Sciences, Other: earnings, debt, and careers

CIP 40.99. Official graduate outcomes from the U.S. Department of Education across 76 programs, and the careers this field is linked to.

Graduate earnings by credential level

National earnings of Physical Sciences, Other graduates who were working and not enrolled one year after completing, by credential. Associate's degree: median $72,861; Bachelor's degree: median $51,413; Master's degree: median $73,240; Doctoral degree: median $71,028. The bar spans the 25th to 75th percentile, the thin line spans the 10th to 90th percentile, and the red mark is the median.

Credential	Programs	Graduates (recent year)	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Typical program median debt
Undergraduate certificate	2	2	Data unavailable	Data unavailable	Data unavailable
Associate's degree	5	23	$72,861	$63,862	$19,000 1 programs
Bachelor's degree	38	202	$51,413	$63,096	$23,422 2 programs
Master's degree	13	132	$73,240	$79,471	Data unavailable
Doctoral degree	13	53	$71,028	$80,994	Data unavailable
Graduate certificate	5	10	Data unavailable	Data unavailable	Data unavailable

National earnings are published by the Department of Education for each field and credential level Verified data. Typical program median debt is ConnectPrep's calculation: the median across programs of each program's median federal debt Calculated estimate. It covers federal loans only.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Field of Study Data. Varies by measure; see measure definitions. Published October 15, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Associate's degree programs with the highest early earnings

School	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Median debt
Empire State University NY · Public · 49 graduates measured	$73,027	Data unavailable	$19,000

Ranked by published median earnings one year after completion. Programs with suppressed earnings do not appear, so this is not a ranking of program quality.

Bachelor's degree programs with the highest early earnings

School	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Median debt
Empire State University NY · Public · 108 graduates measured	$61,923	$71,805	$23,250
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA · Public · 20 graduates measured	$53,114	Data unavailable	Data unavailable
University of Alabama in Huntsville AL · Public · 21 graduates measured	$49,174	Data unavailable	$23,593
University of Mary Washington VA · Public · 26 graduates measured	$42,079	$59,594	Data unavailable

Ranked by published median earnings one year after completion. Programs with suppressed earnings do not appear, so this is not a ranking of program quality.

Master's degree programs with the highest early earnings

School	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Median debt
Johns Hopkins University MD · Private, nonprofit · 123 graduates measured	$74,677	$80,494	Data unavailable

Ranked by published median earnings one year after completion. Programs with suppressed earnings do not appear, so this is not a ranking of program quality.

Careers linked to Physical Sciences, Other

Occupation	Median wage, all workers	Change 2025 to 2035	Typical entry education
Natural sciences managers	$167,220	+8.2%	Bachelor's degree
Physical scientists, all other	$122,570	+2.1%	Bachelor's degree
Postsecondary teachers, all other	$77,640	+2.0%	Doctoral or professional degree

Occupations mapped to this field in the NCES and BLS CIP to SOC crosswalk. Occupation wages describe all workers, not recent graduates.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk. CIP 2020 and SOC 2018 taxonomies. Published April 30, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, National. May 2025 reference period. Published April 30, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, Table 1.2: Occupational projections, 2025-35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Base year 2025, projected year 2035. Published August 27, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Detailed CIP codes in this field (1)

40.9999 Physical Sciences, Other