History at University of Rochester

The $16,253 first-year earnings figure here is so far below normal that something unusual is happening with this small cohort. History majors at University of Rochester—a selective school with strong academics—are earning less than half the national median of $31,220 and placing in just the 10th percentile statewide. For context, CUNY Lehman graduates in this field earn nearly triple that amount in their first year.

The small sample size (under 30 graduates) makes this data unreliable as a predictor of what your child would actually earn. These numbers could reflect graduates pursuing unpaid internships, graduate school without employment, or other temporary situations common among humanities majors at elite institutions. The debt level of $22,421 is actually slightly below the national average, which is the one reassuring data point here. But a 1.38 debt-to-earnings ratio based on such depressed earnings is alarming on paper, even if it may not reflect the typical trajectory.

Don't make a decision based on this dataset—it's too small and the earnings are too anomalous to be representative. If your child is serious about history at Rochester, request more detailed career outcomes data directly from the department, including employment rates and trajectories over several years. The university's overall reputation suggests these numbers don't tell the full story, but you need better data to assess the actual risk.