Statistics at American University

The debt burden here looks manageable compared to what many students face. Based on national patterns for statistics bachelor's programs, American University graduates likely carry around $17,000 in debt—below the $20,000 national median for this major. With estimated first-year earnings near $60,000, the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.28 suggests graduates could realistically pay down loans within a few years while living in DC's expensive market.

What's harder to assess is whether American University's specific program justifies its cost premium over state schools. The national data this estimate draws from includes everything from flagship research universities to regional colleges. American's selectivity (47% acceptance rate, 1392 average SAT) and DC location might provide networking advantages that boost those typical earnings higher, particularly given the concentration of government agencies and policy organizations that hire statisticians. But without actual outcome data for this specific program, that's speculative.

The fundamentals appear sound: statistics remains one of the more reliable undergraduate majors for employment, and the estimated debt level won't dictate your child's career choices for the next decade. Still, you're essentially betting on the value of American's brand and location without hard evidence of what their statistics graduates specifically achieve. If your child has admission offers from larger statistics programs with published outcomes, those numbers would give you more certainty about the return on investment.