Landscape Architecture at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

With estimated debt around $26,000 against first-year earnings near $53,000, this landscape architecture degree from UIUC appears to fall within reasonable bounds—the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.49 suggests graduates could realistically manage loan payments while establishing their careers. Since both the earnings and debt figures come from national medians for similar programs rather than UIUC-specific outcomes, they represent what's typical across landscape architecture programs nationwide, though they can't tell us whether Illinois' flagship university produces better or worse results than peer institutions.

The bigger question is whether landscape architecture itself offers sufficient financial return. With estimated earnings just above $50,000, this is a modestly compensated professional field, particularly given the bachelor's degree requires specialized training. UIUC's selectivity (44% admission rate, 1418 SAT average) means your child likely has options in higher-earning fields if maximizing income matters. That said, landscape architecture does provide a defined career path with steady demand, and the debt load appears manageable for the profession's typical compensation.

The limitation here is that we're working entirely from national benchmarks—UIUC could be producing graduates who command premium salaries in Chicago's architecture and planning firms, or it could be underperforming the national average. Without program-specific data, you're essentially betting on UIUC's overall reputation rather than proven outcomes in this particular major.