Geography and Cartography at Dartmouth College

Dartmouth's geography and cartography program sits at an interesting crossroads: graduates earn $56,756 in their first year—dramatically outpacing the national median of $38,726 for this field—while carrying an estimated $25,000 in debt. That debt figure comes from national patterns at similar elite institutions, not Dartmouth's specific geography graduates, so it could be higher or lower in reality. Still, even if debt were somewhat higher, a 0.44 debt-to-earnings ratio suggests manageable repayment relative to income, particularly for a program whose graduates start nearly 50% above their peers nationally.

The elephant in the room is whether these strong earnings stem from Dartmouth's geography curriculum specifically or from the institution's elite network and competitive student body (6% admission rate, 1533 average SAT). Geography isn't typically known as a high-earning field, so the gap between this program and the national median likely reflects where Dartmouth graduates land—consulting firms, tech companies, government agencies—rather than traditional cartography roles. That's not necessarily a problem if your student is choosing Dartmouth for its doors-opening power, but it does make the major itself less predictive of outcomes than at most schools.

Given the data limitations and the likelihood that outcomes depend heavily on what students do with the Dartmouth degree rather than the geography major itself, treat these numbers as suggestive rather than definitive. The earnings advantage appears real, but confirm actual debt levels through Dartmouth's financial aid office before making enrollment decisions.