City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

A debt load around $25,000 for first-year earnings of $44,000 suggests a manageable financial outcome for this planning degree, though both figures are estimates based on peer programs nationally rather than tracked outcomes from UW-Oshkosh specifically. The 0.57 debt-to-earnings ratio falls well within reasonable territory—your child would be borrowing roughly half their expected first-year salary, which most financial experts consider sustainable. Urban and regional planning sits in an interesting niche: it's a specialized professional field with decent starting pay, but not the kind of major where earnings skyrocket quickly.

The challenge here is uncertainty. With only three Wisconsin schools offering this bachelor's program and no reported outcomes data for any of them, we're working from national medians that may not reflect the regional job market your child would enter. Planning careers often depend heavily on where you work—opportunities and salaries differ significantly between growing metro areas and smaller cities. UW-Oshkosh's 87% admission rate suggests it's accessible rather than elite, which matters less in a field where your portfolio and internships often matter more than pedigree.

The practical question: If your child is genuinely interested in urban planning and willing to be geographically flexible after graduation, these estimated numbers suggest reasonable financial risk. If they're uncertain about the field or planning to stay in a limited Wisconsin market, the lack of school-specific data makes this harder to judge confidently.