International/Global Studies at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

With only about a dozen students in this program, the numbers here might not tell the full story, but what they do show is troubling: first-year earnings of $25,217 rank in just the 5th percentile nationally for International Studies graduates. That's roughly $7,000 below what similar graduates earn at UW-Milwaukee and nearly $15,000 less than UW-Madison grads. Even within Wisconsin—where most families would compare programs—this ranks at the 25th percentile, meaning three-quarters of the state's International Studies programs launch students into higher earnings.

The debt load of $25,372 roughly matches Wisconsin's median for this major, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio that means graduates owe nearly their entire first year's salary. For context, International Studies isn't typically a high-earning field right out of college (the national median is $32,819), but this program underperforms even those modest expectations. The relatively high admission rate and accessibility of UW-Stevens Point is valuable, but that openness hasn't translated into strong career outcomes for this particular major.

Given the small cohort size, perhaps a few graduates pursuing unpaid internships or graduate school skewed these numbers downward. But unless you have specific insight into why this program would work better for your student than the data suggests, the safer bet for International Studies in Wisconsin would be one of the UW system's larger campuses with proven track records in this field.