Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at Ohio University-Southern Campus

An associate's degree that costs an estimated $13,000 and leads to first-year earnings around $36,000 looks reasonable on paper, but the lack of specific data for Ohio University-Southern makes it hard to know if this holds true for their graduates. While comparable multi/interdisciplinary studies programs nationally suggest this earning potential, other Ohio schools in this field report significantly lower outcomes—Sinclair Community College's graduates, for instance, earn just $27,000 their first year. That $9,000 gap matters when you're weighing whether the estimated debt load here is manageable.

The 0.36 debt-to-earnings ratio suggests graduates from similar programs can typically handle their loans, paying about a third of their first-year income toward the debt. However, interdisciplinary studies degrees are notably broad and can lead to varied career paths, which means actual outcomes depend heavily on what specific skills students gain and how well the program connects to local employers in the Ironton area. Given that only 12% of students here receive Pell grants—unusually low for a community campus—this program may serve a different demographic than typical two-year schools.

Before committing, get concrete information from the campus about where their interdisciplinary studies graduates actually work and what they earn. The estimates suggest this could be worthwhile, but without school-specific data, you're banking on outcomes that may not match this particular program's reality.