International/Global Studies at Centre College

Centre College's International/Global Studies program produces graduates earning $35,367 in their first year—beating both the Kentucky median ($30,736) and the national median ($32,819) by notable margins. At 60th percentile among Kentucky programs and 61st nationally, this program performs solidly in the middle-to-upper tier. The real standout here is the debt picture: at $27,000, graduates carry substantially less than the typical burden for this field, landing in the 5th percentile nationally for debt. That 0.76 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe less than their first year's salary, a manageable starting point.

The comparison within Kentucky is telling. While Centre's graduates don't earn dramatically more than peers at other state programs, they're starting ahead of the University of Kentucky's program (which reports $26,104) by about $9,000 annually. For a selective liberal arts college with a 1345 average SAT, these outcomes suggest reasonable value—students aren't paying an extreme premium in debt for the Centre name in this particular major.

The caveat is that International Studies degrees don't typically lead to high-earning first jobs, and this program follows that pattern. Parents should understand that $35,000 is a modest starting salary regardless of the percentile ranking. But the controlled debt load means graduates have financial flexibility to pursue graduate school, entry-level nonprofit work, or other paths common to this field without being crushed by loan payments.