Social Sciences at Hamline University

A debt load of $27,000 for a bachelor's degree sits just above the national norm for social sciences programs, but paired with first-year earnings around $36,000—both figures drawn from comparable programs nationally—this creates a debt-to-earnings ratio that should concern any parent writing the check. With estimated monthly loan payments hovering around $300, a graduate earning roughly $3,000 monthly before taxes will feel that burden immediately, especially in the Twin Cities where rent alone can consume a significant chunk of take-home pay.

The lack of reported outcomes here means we're working with broad national averages rather than Hamline-specific results, which matters given the school's open admission profile and the fact that 40% of students come from lower-income backgrounds. Social sciences degrees are versatile but notoriously variable in their career trajectories—some graduates move into well-paying corporate roles or graduate school pipelines, while others struggle to find work that requires their credential at all. The national benchmark suggests this is typical for the field, not an outlier, but that doesn't make the financial math easier.

If your child is genuinely passionate about social sciences and has a clear plan for leveraging the degree—whether that's graduate school, specific career paths in nonprofits, government, or business—Hamline could work. But without that clarity, you're looking at a debt burden that could take a decade to clear on entry-level wages, and no school-specific data to suggest Hamline's outcomes differ from the national average.