Geography and Cartography at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.58 sits in reasonable territory for a bachelor's degree, though the underlying numbers deserve scrutiny. Based on comparable geography programs nationally, first-year earnings around $38,700 would make that estimated $22,400 in debt manageable—requiring roughly 40% of gross income over a standard 10-year repayment period. This falls within the conventional wisdom of keeping total debt below annual salary, though just barely.

The challenge is that geography and cartography programs produce highly variable outcomes depending on whether graduates land GIS analyst positions, urban planning roles, or less technical jobs. With 303 programs nationally and only limited reported data, the field appears to struggle with consistent placement or graduates dispersed across too many career paths to track effectively. Shippensburg's 86% admission rate and modest test scores suggest students here may not have the competitive edge for the higher-paying geospatial technology positions that lift some geography graduates into the $42,000+ range.

For families weighing this investment, the estimated figures provide a general sense of what peer programs produce, but they can't tell you whether Shippensburg specifically has strong GIS labs, industry connections in Pennsylvania's planning sector, or faculty who help students secure internships. At these debt levels, the margin for error is slim—graduates who don't land technical roles quickly could find repayment burdensome on entry-level administrative salaries.