Urban Studies/Affairs at University of Utah

The $40,294 first-year earnings figure for this program—drawn from national Urban Studies medians since the University of Utah's cohort was too small to report—sits at the absolute national median for this field. That's neither impressive nor alarming, but combined with an estimated $23,000 in debt, it creates a manageable starting point with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.57. For context, that means roughly seven months of gross salary to cover the debt burden, which falls within reasonable parameters for a bachelor's degree.

What's harder to assess here is whether Utah employers value this credential the same way the broader national market does. Urban Studies graduates typically find work in planning departments, nonprofits, and local government—sectors where salary ranges vary significantly by region and metropolitan area. Salt Lake City's growing urban corridor might offer opportunities, but you're investing based on what similar programs produce nationally, not on proven outcomes from this specific degree path. The University of Utah's open admissions profile (87% acceptance) suggests this isn't a highly selective program drawing the most competitive students, which matters when earnings data is already an estimate rather than actual graduate outcomes.

The practical takeaway: if your child is genuinely passionate about urban planning and civic infrastructure, this represents a financially defensible path with manageable debt. But you're making that investment without hard evidence of how *this* program performs in *this* market—a significant information gap when career outcomes can vary widely in specialized social science fields.