Physics at Georgetown University

Georgetown's Physics bachelor's is pulling from national benchmarks—$47,670 in first-year earnings and $23,120 in debt—because the program's graduate cohort is too small for the DOE to publish specific outcomes. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.49 is solid by any standard, suggesting Physics graduates nationally manage roughly half a year's salary in debt. But here's the catch: Georgetown admits just 13% of applicants with median SATs around 1500, yet these estimated earnings place graduates right at the national median for Physics programs, not above it.

That matters because you're presumably paying Georgetown's tuition for outcomes better than what typical state schools deliver. Physics bachelor's holders often pursue graduate degrees where earning potential truly opens up, so these first-year figures may understate long-term value. Still, when similar programs nationwide produce these same earnings, there's no immediate evidence that Georgetown's elite brand translates to a salary premium in this field, at least not right out of college.

The debt load is manageable if those earnings hold, but verify whether Georgetown's actual costs align with this $23,120 estimate—many families at highly selective private schools graduate with considerably more. If your student is set on Physics and Georgetown specifically, understand you're making a bet on prestige and network effects that aren't yet visible in the earnings data we can see.