Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Kent State University at East Liverpool

Kent State East Liverpool manages something unusual for a liberal arts degree: it keeps debt exceptionally low while delivering above-average earnings. At $31,963 in median debt (10th percentile nationally—meaning 90% of similar programs saddle students with more), graduates face one of the lowest debt burdens in the country for this degree. That translates to monthly payments around $350, which is genuinely manageable given first-year earnings of $41,205. This lands in the 73rd percentile nationally and hits the 60th percentile among Ohio programs—solidly middle-of-the-pack for the state, but well above the national median of $36,340.

The earnings trajectory shows modest but steady growth, reaching $43,439 by year four. That 5% bump won't impress anyone, but it's typical for liberal arts graduates, and the real story here is the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.78. For context, many liberal arts programs push ratios above 1.0, meaning graduates owe more than their first-year salary. This program avoids that trap entirely, making the degree financially survivable even if career advancement proves limited.

The bottom line: if your child is committed to liberal arts and prefers staying in Ohio, this represents a responsible choice. The debt load won't haunt them, and earnings clear the bar for self-sufficiency. It's not a path to rapid wealth—Ohio State's main campus outearns this by a modest amount—but it's a financially defensible version of a degree that often isn't.