Agricultural Business and Management at University of Massachusetts-Amherst

A bachelor's in Agricultural Business from UMass-Amherst comes with an estimated $20,000 in debt—a manageable load that sits right at the national median for this field. Based on comparable ag business programs across the country, first-year earnings typically hover around $48,000, climbing to over $71,000 by year four. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.41 suggests graduates could reasonably pay off their loans within a few years while building their careers, whether in farm management, agribusiness consulting, or agricultural supply chains.

The challenge here is that UMass-Amherst is the only school in Massachusetts offering this program, and both the earnings and debt figures come from national peer programs rather than actual outcomes for this specific school. That means you're betting on UMass-Amherst delivering results similar to the broader field without direct evidence. The university's strong academic profile (average SAT of 1393) and solid four-year earnings figure suggest the program holds its own, but the lack of first-year data specific to this campus leaves an important gap.

For families confident their child wants to work in agricultural business—and willing to accept some uncertainty about immediate post-graduation outcomes—the estimated debt burden is light enough to make this a defensible choice. Just recognize you're making that decision based on how similar programs perform nationally, not on a track record specific to this program.