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Philosophy Degree

77 schools compared · Average earnings $32,298/yr

Students study fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, logic, and the nature of mind through rigorous analytical reasoning and the examination of major philosophical traditions. Graduates typically pursue careers in law, business ethics, public policy, technology ethics, consulting, and education, or continue to graduate school or law school. Philosophy majors consistently score among the highest on the LSAT and GRE, and mid-career earnings are surprisingly competitive.

What Philosophy Graduates Do

Your training in formal logic and ethics opens doors to surprisingly technical and lucrative careers. A common path is into natural sciences management, where you’ll direct research and development teams, oversee complex budgets, and guide project strategy. Here, your job is less about being in the lab and more about using rigorous analysis to resolve technical and ethical dilemmas. Others pursue the academic track in philosophy or even mathematics, which involves designing syllabi, leading seminars, publishing research, and mentoring students. Advancement in these fields typically involves moving from a hands-on role to a senior position focused on leadership and high-level strategy.

While management roles see healthy growth, some traditional academic paths are growing slowly or even shrinking. Be prepared for the significant impact of AI. With an average exposure of 64%, AI is fundamentally reshaping these careers by automating the routine analysis and modeling junior staff once performed. Your professional value will shift from doing the calculations to architecting the problems AI tackles, critically evaluating its outputs, and making tough judgment calls. This world demands sharp, structured thinking, making your philosophical training a direct and practical asset.

Schools Offering

Avg Grad Earnings

$32,298/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

30/100

AI Automation Risk

Very High

65% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Philosophy graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 15,000 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Natural sciences managers	$161,180 $114K$215K	8,500	+3.7%	50%
Mathematicians	$121,680 $86K$153K	100	-0.7%	100%
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary	$79,350 $61K$106K	4,400	+2.3%	54%
Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary	$78,050 $61K$102K	2,000	+0.7%	51%

Natural sciences managers

$161,180

$114K $215K

8,500 openings/yr +3.7% growth 50% AI risk

Mathematicians

$121,680

$86K $153K

100 openings/yr -0.7% growth 100% AI risk

Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary

$79,350

$61K $106K

4,400 openings/yr +2.3% growth 54% AI risk

Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary

$78,050

$61K $102K

2,000 openings/yr +0.7% growth 51% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Philosophy

Top 20 of 77 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	Utah Valley University Orem, UT	45 37–46	$43,699/yr	16.4x
2	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	43 35–44	$43,311/yr	13.6x
3	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	43 35–44	$40,286/yr	11.1x
4	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	43 36–44	$37,885/yr	9.8x
5	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	42 34–43	$40,881/yr	10.8x
6	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	42 36–42	$34,284/yr	15.7x
7	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ	41 33–42	$40,113/yr	8.3x
8	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	40 33–41	$73,053/yr	1.8x
9	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ	40 33–41	$40,113/yr	8.1x
10	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	40 33–41	$40,113/yr	8.0x
11	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	40 34–40	$35,608/yr	11.9x
12	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	39 32–40	$42,072/yr	9.2x
13	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	39 32–40	$42,072/yr	9.3x
14	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	39 33–40	$35,975/yr	11.6x
15	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	39 37–40	$24,048/yr	26.4x
16	Florida International University Miami, FL	38 33–38	$31,583/yr	18.6x
17	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	37 30–38	$38,380/yr	2.5x
18	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA	36 29–36	$36,581/yr	8.1x
19	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	36 29–36	$35,179/yr	12.8x
20	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY	36 31–36	$30,851/yr	16.3x
21	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	36 32–36	$28,539/yr	17.6x
22	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	36 33–37	$27,072/yr	22.8x
23	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	35 28–36	$39,971/yr	8.3x
24	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	35 29–36	$36,355/yr	8.3x
25	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	35 29–36	$34,289/yr	9.5x
26	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	35 30–35	$31,652/yr	9.1x
27	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	35 32–35	$21,168/yr	21.4x
28	New York University New York, NY	34 27–35	$40,359/yr	2.2x
29	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI	34 27–34	$34,666/yr	10.9x
30	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	34 29–34	$30,058/yr	10.7x
31	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	33 26–34	$40,286/yr	—
32	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO	32 26–33	$36,307/yr	8.1x
33	CUNY City College New York, NY	32 26–32	$33,339/yr	10.4x
34	University of North Texas Denton, TX	31 24–32	$37,231/yr	8.4x
35	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	31 28–31	$25,303/yr	9.9x
36	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	30 22–31	$42,334/yr	0.6x
37	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	30 27–30	$25,171/yr	9.9x
38	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	30 27–30	$20,822/yr	16.5x
39	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	29 21–30	$52,668/yr	0.2x
40	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	29 21–30	$47,345/yr	1.1x
41	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	29 25–29	$30,182/yr	8.7x
42	Boston University Boston, MA	28 21–29	$40,377/yr	0.5x
43	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI	28 23–28	$31,662/yr	8.0x
44	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	28 23–28	$30,171/yr	9.7x
45	Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA	27 20–28	$38,544/yr	0.5x
46	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	27 22–27	$30,285/yr	7.6x
47	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	27 22–27	$29,251/yr	9.1x
48	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY	27 23–27	$27,926/yr	12.9x
49	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	26 21–27	$32,749/yr	4.4x
50	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	26 22–26	$29,712/yr	8.0x
51	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	26 21–26	$29,326/yr	11.3x
52	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM	26 23–26	$26,205/yr	12.4x
53	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	25 17–26	$41,032/yr	1.0x
54	University of Scranton Scranton, PA	25 19–25	$32,513/yr	2.2x
55	University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO	25 20–25	$32,480/yr	8.3x
56	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	25 20–25	$30,936/yr	5.1x
57	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	25 22–25	$20,922/yr	8.7x
58	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	24 18–25	$35,602/yr	0.4x
59	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	24 21–24	$20,222/yr	9.6x
60	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	23 19–23	$27,893/yr	5.1x
61	Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, OH	22 17–22	$32,165/yr	1.5x
62	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	22 18–22	$27,810/yr	4.4x
63	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	21 17–21	$28,648/yr	4.3x
64	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA	21 18–22	$25,869/yr	5.2x
65	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	21 18–22	$25,626/yr	5.2x
66	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	20 18–21	$20,354/yr	6.3x
67	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC	20 17–20	$20,287/yr	5.7x
68	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	19 16–20	$26,192/yr	3.0x
69	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	19 16–19	$24,669/yr	3.0x
70	Portland State University Portland, OR	19 16–19	$24,124/yr	7.6x
71	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL	19 16–19	$23,219/yr	3.5x
72	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	18 14–18	$27,640/yr	4.5x
73	John Carroll University University Heights, OH	18 16–19	$17,813/yr	-0.1x
74	The College of Wooster Wooster, OH	17 13–17	$27,174/yr	0.1x
75	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	17 14–17	$21,824/yr	2.4x
76	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	16 14–17	$14,151/yr	2.6x
77	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	16 13–17	$10,363/yr	2.5x

Highest Earning Philosophy Programs

Schools where Philosophy graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
University of Pennsylvania	$73,053/yr	40
Columbia University in the City of New York	$52,668/yr	29
Boston College	$47,345/yr	29
Utah Valley University	$43,699/yr	45
CUNY Lehman College	$43,311/yr	43
Southern Methodist University	$42,334/yr	30
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	$42,072/yr	39
University of Washington-Bothell Campus	$42,072/yr	39
Tulane University of Louisiana	$41,032/yr	25
The University of Texas at Austin	$40,881/yr	42

Best ROI for Philosophy

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Philosophy.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
University of Florida	26.4x	$24,048/yr	39
Florida State University	22.8x	$27,072/yr	36
University of South Florida	21.4x	$21,168/yr	35
Florida International University	18.6x	$31,583/yr	38
San Francisco State University	17.6x	$28,539/yr	36
California State University-Northridge	16.5x	$20,822/yr	30
Utah Valley University	16.4x	$43,699/yr	45
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	16.3x	$30,851/yr	36
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	15.7x	$34,284/yr	42
CUNY Lehman College	13.6x	$43,311/yr	43

Want to compare two Philosophy programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Philosophy graduates earn?

Across 77 schools, Philosophy graduates earn an average of $32,298 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $10,363 to $73,053 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Philosophy?

Philosophy is rated "Very High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 65% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means most career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Philosophy program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), Utah Valley University ranks #1 for Philosophy with a score of 45/100 and graduate earnings of $43,699/yr.

What's the outlook for a Philosophy degree?

On average, Philosophy graduates earn 8.0x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a moderate return — school choice matters significantly.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →