Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at University of Kansas

At $22,500, KU's liberal arts program carries significantly less debt than typical graduates in this field face—$4,500 below the national median and $4,000 below what Kansas peers typically accumulate. That's real money saved, and it pairs with first-year earnings of $42,527 that land in the 79th percentile nationally. For a broad liberal arts degree at an 88% acceptance rate institution, these outcomes punch above their weight.

The earnings trajectory is modest but stable: graduates see their income rise to $44,562 by year four, a pattern that reflects the exploratory nature of these degrees. Within Kansas, this program sits in the 60th percentile—solid positioning among twenty in-state options, essentially matching Fort Hays State's outcomes while staying competitive with private alternatives like Friends and Baker. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.53 means graduates typically owe about half their first year's salary, a manageable starting point for careers that often take time to crystallize.

The real advantage here is flexibility without penalty. Students get the broad foundation of a liberal arts education while avoiding the debt traps common to these programs elsewhere. With robust sample size backing these numbers, you're looking at reliable data showing that KU delivers general studies outcomes that compete well both statewide and nationally—particularly valuable if your child needs time to discover their direction without gambling on heavy debt.