MAJORS · 7 OF 19 BY ROI

Is a social sciences excluding economics degree worth it?

On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$183,047. But the spread is the real story.

MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED

+$183,047

across 2,376 bachelor’s programs · 184,110 graduates

MEDIAN GRADUATE

+$158K

MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN

+$41K ⟷ +$286K

NEVER BREAK EVEN

19.1%

MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE

36

ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES

+$102K

IF YOU DROP OUT

−$113K

The biggest fields inside Social Sciences excluding Economics

  1. Sociology. 53,832 grads +$94K
  2. Political Science and Government. 53,114 grads +$296K
  3. Criminology. 15,516 grads +$182K
  4. Anthropology. 13,359 grads −$6K
  5. International Relations and National Security Studies. 13,330 grads +$284K

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

Questions

Is a social sciences excluding economics degree worth it?
On average yes — across 2,376 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Social Sciences excluding Economics is +$183,047 and the median is +$157,959. 19.1% of graduates in this category never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$40,916 and +$286,429.
How long until a social sciences excluding economics degree pays off?
Among Social Sciences excluding Economics programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 36 (FREOPP 2021). 19.1% of graduates in the category are in programs that never break even at all.
Does the school matter for a social sciences excluding economics major?
Enormously. The middle 50% of Social Sciences excluding Economics graduates span +$40,916 to +$286,429 — a +$246K 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 category average.

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

Cite this:

LE TEEN (2026). “Social Sciences excluding Economics: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/social-sciences-excluding-economics