MAJORS · 1 OF 19 BY ROI

Is a philosophy and religious studies degree worth it?

On average, no — the mean lifetime ROI is −$111,915, by FREOPP’s own published number. The honest details matter.

MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED

−$111,915

across 439 bachelor’s programs · 20,114 graduates

MEDIAN GRADUATE

−$82K

MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN

−$259K ⟷ +$106K

NEVER BREAK EVEN

59.8%

MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE

38

ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES

−$126K

IF YOU DROP OUT

−$122K

The biggest fields inside Philosophy and Religious Studies

  1. Philosophy. 5,473 grads +$38K
  2. Religion/Religious Studies. 5,440 grads −$296K
  3. Bible/Biblical Studies. 3,863 grads −$92K
  4. Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries. 1,710 grads −$168K
  5. Theological and Ministerial Studies. 1,547 grads −$61K

Mean lifetime ROI per field, cohort-weighted. A category average hides this spread — and the per-school spread inside each field is wider still.

Subfield deep-dives inside Philosophy and Religious Studies

  1. Is a philosophy degree worth it? 5,473 grads +$24K
  2. Is a religious studies degree worth it? 5,440 grads −$177K
  3. Is a biblical studies degree worth it? 3,863 grads −$102K

Median lifetime ROI per subfield, cohort-weighted. Each page carries the full statistics — spread, break-even age, the share who never break even.

How much of this work is AI already reaching for?

We read what the AI labs measured about their own machines. Microsoft and Anthropic scored how much of real occupations their AI is already used for — then warned it is not a measure of jobs being replaced. Here is where that lands Philosophy and Religious Studies, judged on where its graduates actually work — not where the degree theoretically leads.

High AI exposure Philosophy and Religious Studies is work of words, symbols, and screens — exactly what today's AI is built to manipulate.

Where Philosophy and Religious Studies graduates actually work — and how much of each job today’s AI is reaching for (0–1 applicability):

  1. 22% Clergy 0.43
  2. 7% Lawyers 0.24
  3. 5% Managers, All Other 0.19
  4. 2% Chief Executives 0.21
  5. 2% First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers 0.17

And what people in this field actually bring to AI — the job tasks most taken to Claude, from Anthropic’s usage data:

  • Read from sacred texts such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
  • Determine existence and amount of liability according to current laws, administrative and judicial precedents, and available evidence.
  • Review class material with students by discussing text, working solutions to problems, or reviewing worksheets or other assignments.
  • Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.

Exposure isn’t replacement. The score is how much of the task AI touches — not whether the job survives, which turns on judgment, licensure, physical presence, and trust. Sources: Microsoft Research “Working with AI” (CC BY 4.0), the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY), and U.S. Census ACS field-of-degree. Applicability scores are le-teen-derived, not original Microsoft figures; the task list is Anthropic’s observed Claude usage.

Questions

Is a philosophy and religious studies degree worth it?
On average no — across 439 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Philosophy and Religious Studies is −$111,915 and the median is −$81,669. 59.8% of graduates in this field never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between −$259,353 and +$106,067.
How long until a philosophy and religious studies degree pays off?
Among Philosophy and Religious Studies programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 38 (FREOPP 2021). 59.8% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
Does the school matter for a philosophy and religious studies major?
Enormously. The middle 50% of Philosophy and Religious Studies graduates span −$259,353 to +$106,067 — a +$365K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the field average.
Will AI replace philosophy and religious studies jobs?
Careful with that word. Two AI labs — Microsoft and Anthropic — measured how much of real occupations their own AI is *already being used for*, then explicitly warned it is NOT a measure of jobs being eliminated. On that measure, Philosophy and Religious Studies lands in the high-exposure tier: the largest place these grads actually work is clergy (22% of them), where AI applicability sits at 0.43 on a 0–1 scale. Exposure means how much of the *task* AI touches — not whether the job survives, which also depends on judgment, licensure, physical presence, and trust. Philosophy and Religious Studies is work of words, symbols, and screens — exactly what today's AI is built to manipulate.

↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 19 categories with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology

Cite this:

LE TEEN (2026). “Philosophy and Religious Studies: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/philosophy-and-religious-studies