Sociology at Gordon College

The earnings data here is genuinely alarming: Gordon College sociology graduates earn just $18,487 in their first year—less than half the national median for sociology majors and barely half what the typical Massachusetts sociology graduate makes ($37,540). This lands the program in the bottom 10% both statewide and nationally. At that income level, graduates would struggle to make loan payments on their $27,000 debt, which while close to the national median, represents 1.5 years of earnings. For context, Boston College sociology graduates just two hours away earn nearly three times as much.

The caveat matters here: with fewer than 30 graduates in the cohort, these numbers could reflect temporary circumstances or a few outliers rather than a consistent pattern. A couple graduates pursuing unpaid ministry work or gap-year service could skew the entire dataset. However, even accounting for measurement error, there's no scenario where bottom-decile earnings represent a strong return on investment.

If your child is set on Gordon for faith-based education, this data suggests steering toward their stronger programs rather than sociology. The debt load is manageable in theory, but only if paired with earnings that can actually service it—and $18,487 cannot.