International Relations and National Security Studies at Hamilton College

Hamilton's International Relations program posts solid first-year earnings of $45,332—outperforming 75% of similar programs nationally and beating New York's median by more than $8,500. That's competitive territory with Fordham and Syracuse, despite this being a field where early earnings are typically modest. The $19,000 median debt is reasonable, translating to a 0.42 debt-to-earnings ratio that suggests manageable monthly payments relative to starting salary.

The catch: we're looking at fewer than 30 graduates in this dataset, which means one or two career outcomes could swing these numbers significantly. Still, the pattern fits what you'd expect from a highly selective liberal arts college (12% admission rate, 1487 average SAT). Hamilton likely provides the networking and credential strength that helps graduates compete for better-paying positions in government, nonprofits, or think tanks—roles that might otherwise go to graduates from larger programs.

For parents, this looks like a reasonable investment if your student is already Hamilton-caliber academically. The debt load won't be crushing, and early earnings beat most peers in this field. Just recognize that international relations isn't a lucrative field out of the gate, and that small sample size means these numbers might not represent the "typical" graduate experience as reliably as data from larger programs would.