Bachelor's · Ames, Iowa

Is Microbiological Sciences and Immunology at Iowa State University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 8.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: Not enough graduates to report; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $53,572; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $24,572; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $79k (likely $79k – $101k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $14k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 8.1 years (likely 5.3–14.6); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$133k (likely −$219k – −$52k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $32k (likely −$128k – $200k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 77%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26