Bachelor's · Schenectady, New York

Is Economics at Union College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $77,568; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $107,179; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $27,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $119k (likely $119k – $141k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $69k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in NY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.1 years (likely 2.7–3.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $348k (likely $228k – $488k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.17M (likely $880k – $1.48M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 81%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: ≥ 80% / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20