Chemistry at New York University

NYU's chemistry program shows a puzzling disconnect between the university's prestige and its actual earnings outcomes. Despite an extremely selective 9% admission rate and sky-high SAT scores, chemistry graduates here earn just $37,249 in their first year—landing in only the 27th percentile nationally. That's $5,000 below what chemistry grads earn at the typical U.S. program, and surprisingly, also trails what graduates earn at SUNY Oswego by over $15,000. While NYU chemistry students do perform better than most New York programs (60th percentile statewide), that's a weak benchmark given the state's generally low chemistry earnings.

The 70% earnings jump to $63,411 by year four suggests many graduates eventually find their footing, possibly through graduate school or career transitions. At $23,250 in debt, the borrowing is reasonable—just below both state and national medians. However, that modest debt load doesn't offset the opportunity cost of attending such a selective institution only to start behind SUNY graduates who likely paid far less.

The small sample size here is critical. With under 30 graduates in the dataset, these numbers could easily swing with just a few outliers. For a family considering full-pay NYU tuition, these outcomes should prompt serious questions about whether chemistry is the right major choice at this particular institution.