Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

UW-Milwaukee's Liberal Arts program delivers a puzzle: strong national performance (80th percentile) but middling results within Wisconsin. The $42,673 starting salary beats the national median by $6,300, yet falls below most other UW System schools—Green Bay and Oshkosh grads are earning $10,000-12,000 more with similar credentials from similarly accessible state universities. For Wisconsin families, that's the uncomfortable comparison that matters.

The debt picture is manageable at $29,000, translating to a 0.68 debt-to-earnings ratio that's below the rule-of-thumb worry threshold. Earnings growth of 22% over four years demonstrates the program isn't producing dead-end jobs. However, paying the same debt as peers at Oshkosh or Eau Claire while earning substantially less creates a relative value gap that's hard to ignore when all are Wisconsin taxpayers.

For families choosing between UW System campuses, Milwaukee appears to be leaving money on the table. If your student is genuinely set on Milwaukee for location or personal reasons, this program won't burden them with crushing debt. But if they're flexible on campus—and most in-state students should be—other UW schools are delivering better financial outcomes for their Liberal Arts graduates. The moderate sample size suggests these numbers are reasonably reliable, not statistical noise.