Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Similar geosciences programs in Wisconsin suggest graduates start around $43,000 annually with about $26,000 in debt—a 0.6 debt-to-earnings ratio that puts this program in line with the state median. While these figures are estimates based on Wisconsin's four other bachelor's programs in this field (since UW-Oshkosh's cohort size is too small for the Department of Education to publish actual outcomes), they track closely with the national median of $39,678 and fall squarely in the middle of Wisconsin's geosciences range.

The debt level appears manageable if those earnings estimates hold. At $26,000 in loans against $43,000 in first-year income, graduates would face monthly payments around $290 on a standard 10-year plan—roughly 8% of gross income. That's well within the financial aid community's guideline of keeping payments below 10% of earnings. Notably, three of the four Wisconsin programs with reported data cluster tightly in the $42,000-$44,000 range, though UW-Parkside's $29,117 shows there's variation even within the same state system.

The challenge here is uncertainty. UW-Oshkosh's actual outcomes could differ meaningfully from these state-based projections, particularly given the school's relatively open admissions and modest test scores. If your child is serious about geosciences, compare career services, internship placement, and faculty research opportunities across Wisconsin campuses—these practical factors may matter more than small earnings differences when the underlying data is this limited.