Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies at Young Harris College

Young Harris College's interdisciplinary studies program sits in an unusual position: with estimated first-year earnings of $35,282, it appears to outpace Georgia's typical $27,840 median for this degree by a significant margin. However, that state figure reflects actual outcomes from 16 Georgia programs, while Young Harris's number is extrapolated from national data because the school's graduate pool is too small for the DOE to report. The $26,500 in estimated debt—roughly aligned with both state and national norms—translates to a 0.75 debt-to-earnings ratio that looks manageable on paper.

The challenge is that interdisciplinary studies programs show enormous variation in outcomes depending on how students structure their coursework and what fields they integrate. Georgia's range runs from $32,000 at College of Coastal Georgia down to $23,600 at Savannah State, suggesting that institutional factors and student career paths matter tremendously. Without actual graduate outcomes from Young Harris, you're essentially betting on whether this small liberal arts college's version of the degree will track closer to national patterns or Georgia's generally lower performance in this field.

If your child has a clear career strategy that makes interdisciplinary work valuable—perhaps combining business with environmental science for sustainability roles, or pairing education with digital media—this estimated debt load won't derail them. But if they're choosing this major as an exploratory option without specific professional goals, the lack of concrete outcomes data means you're investing without knowing whether Young Harris's approach actually delivers.