Statistics at Carleton College

A debt load of $16,875 is remarkably low for any bachelor's degree, and Carleton appears to deliver what selective liberal arts colleges promise: strong outcomes with manageable financial burden. While earnings data for this specific program draws from national peer institutions, the school's overall profile—highly selective admissions, strong academic preparation, and relatively few students on Pell grants—suggests graduates likely perform well in the job market.

The estimated first-year salary of roughly $60,000 puts this in line with typical statistics programs nationally, though it trails the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities by about $7,000. That gap matters less when considering debt: Carleton graduates would need to allocate just 28% of their first year's earnings to clear their loans entirely, far below the concerning thresholds that signal financial strain. Similar programs across Minnesota typically leave graduates with $22,000 in debt, meaning Carleton's low-debt environment represents a significant advantage.

For statistics—a field with clear pathways into data science, analytics, and research—this profile works. The small debt load provides flexibility to pursue graduate school or accept lower-paying entry positions that offer better long-term prospects. Given the estimation caveat, confirm that Carleton's career services actively supports statistics majors in landing their first positions, but the fundamentals here point to a worthwhile investment.