Applied Mathematics at University of Colorado Boulder

At $21,000 in estimated debt against first-year earnings of roughly $61,000, this program aligns closely with national patterns for applied mathematics degrees. Peer programs nationally carry similar debt loads and produce comparable starting salaries, suggesting a debt-to-earnings ratio that should be manageable—you're looking at about a third of first-year income in total borrowing. That's considerably better than many bachelor's programs, where debt can easily match or exceed a full year's salary.

What complicates the picture is that Colorado School of Mines graduates in this field report earning $50,000—about $11,000 less than the national figure we're using as an estimate here. With only three schools in Colorado offering applied mathematics degrees, the state market may simply work differently than the national average suggests. If CU Boulder's outcomes track closer to other Colorado programs than to the national median, the financial equation shifts somewhat, though a 0.34 debt ratio would still remain reasonable even at that lower figure.

The estimation here matters because we're working without CU Boulder's actual graduate outcomes—these figures come from comparable programs elsewhere. Given the university's selectivity and location in Colorado's tech corridor, outcomes could exceed state benchmarks, but banking on that assumption carries risk. Request placement data directly from the math department to understand where recent graduates actually land.