Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Missouri Valley College

A Liberal Arts degree with an estimated debt load near $30,000 and first-year earnings around $37,600 lands right at Missouri's median for this field—neither particularly strong nor weak. The 0.80 debt-to-earnings ratio suggests manageable repayment, though comparable programs at William Jewell and Saint Louis University produce graduates earning $10,000-$13,000 more annually, which compounds significantly over a career.

The challenge with Missouri Valley's program is that it sits in the middle of a crowded field where outcomes vary dramatically. Similar Liberal Arts programs in Missouri span from under $30,000 to over $50,000 in first-year earnings, and without actual outcomes data for this specific program, it's difficult to know where these graduates truly fall. The college's admission rate and student profile suggest it serves a different population than the top performers, which may explain some earnings differences, but those distinctions matter when weighing a $30,000 investment.

For parents, the key question is whether a general Liberal Arts degree from a smaller Missouri college justifies the debt when flagship programs like Mizzou produce similar estimated earnings at comparable costs. If your student has specific career plans—graduate school, teaching, nonprofit work—this foundation could work. But if the goal is simply "getting a degree," the state's larger public universities offer better-documented outcomes and more extensive career networks for roughly the same price.