Geography and Cartography at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins commands elite status in many fields, but this geography program tells a more sobering story. Based on comparable geography and cartography programs nationally, first-year earnings around $38,700 would barely edge above the national median—unremarkable for a school where incoming SAT scores average 1553. The estimated $25,000 in debt yields a manageable ratio of 0.65, yet that assumes these earnings materialize. The reality is we're working entirely with estimates because too few students graduate from this program for the DOE to publish actual outcomes.

That data gap matters more than the numbers themselves. When a highly selective university produces so few geography majors that outcomes can't be tracked, it raises questions about departmental resources, job placement infrastructure, and whether this program receives the attention Johns Hopkins lavishes on its flagship offerings. The comparison to Maryland's flagship university is instructive: UMD geography graduates reportedly earn $40,900 in their first year—higher than what peer programs suggest for Hopkins—while drawing from a far less selective applicant pool.

If your child is passionate about geography and set on Hopkins, recognize you're betting on the school's brand rather than demonstrated program performance. The estimated debt burden won't crush them, but without actual outcomes to evaluate, you're essentially making an uninformed choice about whether this specific major justifies the Hopkins price tag.