Philosophy at University of Central Florida

UCF's philosophy program outperforms most Florida peers by a significant margin—ranking in the 80th percentile statewide with first-year earnings of $35,179, nearly $8,000 above the state median. Even Florida International University, the next-best program in the state, trails by about $3,500. The $19,875 in typical debt sits slightly below the state median and translates to a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.56, meaning graduates owe roughly half their first-year salary.

The caveat matters here: with fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, these numbers could shift substantially with a larger sample. A single graduate landing a particularly good or poor outcome can skew the results. That said, the performance gap versus other Florida programs is wide enough to suggest UCF may genuinely be doing something right—whether through stronger career services, better employer connections in the Orlando area, or simply attracting more career-focused philosophy students.

For a philosophy major, this represents about as strong a financial profile as parents can reasonably expect. The debt is modest, the earnings exceed most alternatives in Florida, and the program performs above the national median as well. Just understand you're looking at a small data sample, so there's more uncertainty than with larger programs.