Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Nebraska Wesleyan University

A bachelor's in liberal arts at Nebraska Wesleyan comes with an estimated $27,000 in debt—about $3,500 more than the typical Nebraska liberal arts program. While this aligns with national norms for private institutions, it means graduates likely face monthly loan payments around $300 for a decade, which takes a meaningful bite from those first-year paychecks.

The estimated $36,340 first-year salary based on comparable programs nationally sits right at the median for this field, and slightly above Nebraska's typical $35,182. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.74 is manageable on paper—well below the troubling 1.0 threshold—but the real challenge is what these numbers mean in practice. After taxes and that monthly loan payment, a graduate might see around $2,000 net monthly income, requiring careful budgeting even in Lincoln's relatively affordable market.

The broader concern is that liberal arts degrees are inherently versatile but not directly vocational, meaning outcomes depend heavily on what students do with the degree—networking, internships, and career planning matter enormously. Without program-specific data from Nebraska Wesleyan itself, you're essentially betting that their students will perform similarly to peers nationally. The 84% admission rate and decent student support (70% not needing Pell grants) suggest solid institutional resources, but for nearly $30,000 in debt, you'll want concrete evidence of career services and alumni networks that turn this general credential into specific job opportunities.