Geography and Cartography at Oregon State University

Earning around $39,000 in your first year puts this program slightly below what other Geography and Cartography graduates in Oregon typically make—the state median is about $40,000, with University of Oregon's program producing substantially higher outcomes at $45,000. The estimated debt load of $22,400, based on what bachelor's students at Oregon State typically borrow, translates to a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.58, which is manageable but not exceptional for a field where starting salaries tend to cluster in the upper $30,000s to low $40,000s nationally.

The challenge with Geography and Cartography degrees is that career trajectories vary enormously depending on whether you specialize in GIS technology, urban planning, environmental science, or another niche. Programs that integrate strong technical skills—especially in spatial analysis software and data visualization—tend to produce better outcomes than those emphasizing traditional cartography or human geography alone. Oregon State's solid reputation in environmental and natural resource fields could offer networking advantages, but without specific data on this program's graduates, it's hard to know whether they're landing GIS analyst positions or working in less lucrative roles.

If your child is passionate about spatial science and committed to building technical skills, the debt here isn't prohibitive. But given the field's wide variation in outcomes and the fact that these figures are approximations, you'd want confirmation that Oregon State's program emphasizes the marketable skills that lead to the higher end of the salary range.