Plant Sciences at University of Idaho

This is one of those agricultural programs where the numbers tell a reassuring story—if the estimates hold up. University of Idaho's plant sciences bachelor's performs above the national median in a field where outcomes cluster fairly tightly. First-year earnings of $44,559 exceed typical figures for the major, and estimated debt around $20,500 keeps the financial burden manageable with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.46.

The caveat here is that the debt figure is estimated from University of Idaho's median across programs (the graduate sample was too small to report publicly), not actual outcomes for plant sciences specifically. Similar programs nationally suggest this $20,500 figure is reasonable—it matches the national median for the major—but there's inherent uncertainty when extrapolating from broader institutional patterns. The earnings growth to $51,811 by year four is solid but not spectacular, which is fairly typical for agriculture-adjacent fields that tend toward steady rather than explosive career trajectories.

For a family comfortable with some estimation uncertainty, the fundamentals look sound. Your student would be entering a specialized field with decent starting pay and debt that shouldn't overwhelm early paychecks. The risk is that if actual debt runs higher than estimated, those comfortable ratios could shift. Ask the financial aid office what plant sciences graduates typically borrow—they may have program-specific data even if it can't be published.