Psychology at University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

UMass Dartmouth's psychology program occupies an unusual middle ground: it significantly outperforms most psychology programs nationally (86th percentile) while landing squarely in the middle of Massachusetts schools (40th percentile). That state context matters because your child will be competing for jobs with graduates from schools like Williams and Boston College, where psychology majors earn substantially more. The $27,000 in debt is manageable—below both national and state averages—but the first-year salary of $36,382 trails the state median and sits well below the elite private schools that dominate Massachusetts.

The earnings trajectory offers some reassurance, with graduates seeing 25% salary growth to $45,292 by year four. That's solid progress for a social science degree and suggests the program prepares students for career advancement. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.74 is reasonable, meaning graduates can realistically manage their loans without financial strain. For a school with a 92% admission rate serving a substantial Pell grant population, these outcomes demonstrate real value.

The calculation here depends on cost: if your child qualifies for in-state tuition and graduates with that $27,000 debt load, this represents a sensible path into psychology. But if they're considering more expensive options or could access the state's higher-performing programs, those alternatives warrant serious consideration given the salary differences in the Massachusetts market.