Social Sciences at Carthage College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.72 sits in uncomfortable territory for Social Sciences graduates. Peer programs nationally suggest first-year earnings around $37,500 against roughly $27,000 in debt—manageable on paper, but only if those figures hold true for Carthage specifically. The concerning element here is that neither earnings nor debt data are available for this program, meaning we're operating entirely on what similar Bachelor's programs produce elsewhere. That's a significant blind spot when you're writing a tuition check.

The broader Wisconsin landscape offers some perspective. Other Social Sciences programs in the state typically produce $35,000 in first-year earnings with $24,750 in debt, suggesting Carthage's estimated figures track reasonably with state norms. However, UW-River Falls demonstrates that Wisconsin graduates in this field can earn $42,000—about $5,000 more than the estimates here would suggest. That gap matters when you're calculating monthly loan payments against entry-level salaries in fields like nonprofit work, social services, or research assistance.

Without actual outcomes data, you're essentially betting that Carthage's program performs like the average Social Sciences degree nationally. That might be fine if your child has clear graduate school plans or specific career connections, but the estimated $37,500 salary leaves little room for error if those next steps don't materialize quickly.