Majors that pay off their debt fastest
How long the earnings premium over a typical high-school graduate takes to recoup what graduates typically borrowed, lowest first.
| # | Major | Years to pay back | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration | 0.3 yrs | 26 |
| 2 | Computer Engineering | 0.3 yrs | 165 |
| 3 | Systems Engineering | 0.3 yrs | 11 |
| 4 | Construction Management | 0.4 yrs | 50 |
| 5 | Industrial Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 89 |
| 6 | Mechanical Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 317 |
| 7 | Engineering-Related Fields | 0.4 yrs | 27 |
| 8 | Biomedical/Medical Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 120 |
| 9 | Chemical Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 152 |
| 10 | Construction Engineering Technology/Technician | 0.4 yrs | 37 |
| 11 | Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other | 0.4 yrs | 14 |
| 12 | Computer Science | 0.4 yrs | 313 |
| 13 | Engineering, Other | 0.4 yrs | 17 |
| 14 | Cognitive Science | 0.4 yrs | 17 |
| 15 | Manufacturing Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 12 |
| 16 | Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 60 |
| 17 | Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 243 |
| 18 | Petroleum Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 17 |
| 19 | Real Estate | 0.4 yrs | 23 |
| 20 | Insurance | 0.4 yrs | 16 |
| 21 | Applied Mathematics | 0.4 yrs | 37 |
| 22 | Statistics | 0.4 yrs | 44 |
| 23 | Construction Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 10 |
| 24 | Nuclear Engineering | 0.4 yrs | 12 |
| 25 | Engineering, General | 0.5 yrs | 45 |
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Payback is median federal debt divided by the yearly earnings premium over a typical high-school graduate. It is a plain ratio, not the amortized federal debt-to-earnings rate, and it ignores interest and time to degree.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10). Earnings are median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing, and describe past graduates rather than a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.