Master's · Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Is Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Middle Tennessee State University 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 4.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $54,657; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $82,267; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $35,300; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $37k (likely $37k – $37k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $23k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in TN; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 4.7 years (likely 3.6–6.7); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $19k (likely −$67k – $117k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $325k (likely $131k – $561k); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.