Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Compiled by PlainCollege, College outcomes data analysis
25
Schools
Level 99
Credential Level
$57,381
National Avg Earnings
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities is tracked across 25 U.S. postsecondary institutions in the College Scorecard field-of-study file, which links CIP code classifications from IPEDS to Treasury earnings records. This profile covers the level 99 credential level specifically, because the Department of Education reports program-level outcomes separately for associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards. The CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) taxonomy lets analysts roll up specialties into broader families, which is why earnings medians across schools can be compared on a common basis.
Across all reporting institutions, the mean of school-level medians is $57,381, calculated from 25 schools with published earnings data. The earnings distribution stretches from $29,822 at the low end to $87,224 at the top, with a 25th-75th percentile band between $46,497 and $70,407 around a median of $53,722. The top-reporting institution in this program is University of California-Santa Barbara at $87,224. These numbers reflect Treasury-derived wages, deferred compensation, and positive self-employment earnings four years after completion for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled.
Variation across schools matters more than a single national figure. Completer counts and earnings cohort counts are distinct source fields, so the displayed completer count should not be assumed to be the earnings denominator. PlainCollege's debt-to-earnings ratio divides median federal debt by annual median earnings as a descriptive comparison; it is not the Department's formal gainful-employment test. Use the school-by-school table to compare reported outcomes while accounting for cohort size, suppression, program mix, and location.
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities level 99 credential median earnings varies 2.9× across entities
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities level 99 credential median earnings ranges from $29,822 (lowest) to $87,224 (highest), a spread of $57,402. That spread reflects typical sectoral variation between selective research institutions and broader access institutions. Earnings are measured four years after completion using Treasury-derived records for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled. They are descriptive early-career outcomes, not forecasts of longer-term earnings.
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities operates only 25 institutions offer this program — among the most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities institutions offer this program are specialty-program scarcity that concentrates national supply in a small set of institutions, graduates often command stronger employer attention because the talent pool is structurally narrower. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across larger populations, but it can also mask intra-institutions offer this program inequities — sub-institutions offer this program differences within a single institutions offer this program are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Awards and earnings come from different reference periods, so they are not a count and an
average of the same people. Awards is the number of credentials the school reported for the
latest IPEDS year; median earnings is measured four years after completion, for a separate
pooled cohort of earlier graduates. A school can therefore report zero awards in the latest
year and still have earnings on record. The earnings figure is not the awards figure’s
average, and the awards count is not the earnings sample size. Schools are ranked on the
four-year earnings figure only, so every row is compared on the same basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities graduates earn? ▼
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities graduates earn $57,381 on average four years after completion, across the 25 of 25 schools that report earnings for this program. Earnings range from $29,822 to $87,224 depending on the institution.
Which school's Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities graduates earn the most? ▼
University of California-Santa Barbara has the highest reported median earnings for Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities graduates at $87,224, measured four years after completion in College Scorecard data. This reflects what graduates went on to earn, which depends heavily on who the school admits and which employers recruit there. It is not a figure the school pays.
What credential do you get in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities? ▼
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities programs typically award a Level 99 credential. Earnings vary by school and credential level.
Top Schools for Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Closest schools offering this program – compare earnings side by side
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field of Study file retrieved in March 2026. The program metric displayed here represents federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled four years after credential completion, using Treasury-derived records published through the Scorecard. Completer counts and debt figures come from the same field-of-study snapshot; the Department refreshes components on schedules documented in its changelog, not one fixed annual date.