Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Earlham College

A $27,000 debt load for first-year earnings around $36,000 looks manageable on paper—the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.75 sits comfortably in the acceptable range. However, these figures are drawn from other Indiana liberal arts programs, not Earlham's actual graduate outcomes, which the Department of Education can't publish due to small sample sizes. For a selective school with average SAT scores of 1250, that's worth noting.

The estimated earnings align almost exactly with both state and national medians for this broad degree category, suggesting typical outcomes for the field. But Indiana's top performers—Notre Dame and several other programs—report first-year earnings in the mid-$40,000s, nearly $10,000 higher. Whether Earlham's graduates land closer to the state average or punch above it remains unclear without actual data from the school.

The practical challenge is that liberal arts degrees are notoriously variable in outcome—they prepare students for dozens of different career paths, which means earnings can swing widely based on individual choices after graduation. Without Earlham-specific data, you're essentially betting that this particular program performs similarly to peer schools in Indiana. If your child is drawn to Earlham's Quaker values and small community, the estimated debt picture doesn't rule it out, but ask the school directly what their recent graduates are doing and earning—they track this internally even when the government can't publish it.