Social Sciences at University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg

The first-year numbers look promising—graduates earn above the national median and match Pennsylvania's state average—but there's a concerning reversal by year four, with earnings dropping 17% to $36,020. That's a significant decline that runs counter to typical career progression, though with fewer than 30 graduates in this dataset, it could reflect a few individuals' circumstances rather than a true trend.

The debt picture is reasonable at $27,000 (lower than two-thirds of similar programs nationally), and the first-year debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.62 suggests manageable repayment initially. However, if the earnings decline persists, that calculation becomes less favorable. Within Pennsylvania, this program sits at the 60th percentile—solidly middle-of-the-pack among the state's 18 social sciences programs, though notably all three University of Pittsburgh campuses report identical first-year earnings, which may indicate how the data was collected rather than actual performance differences.

Given the small sample size, treat these numbers as suggestive rather than definitive. The debt load is modest enough that it won't sink a graduate financially, but the earnings trajectory raises questions worth investigating. If your student is considering this program, dig deeper into what happens to graduates after that first year—do they pursue graduate school, switch fields, or face local job market constraints? The fundamental value depends heavily on factors these numbers can't capture.