Bachelor's · Blacksburg, Virginia

Is Plant Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and 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 7.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $46,528; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $60,827; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $19,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $109k (likely $109k – $134k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $22k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in VA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 7.7 years (likely 5.9–10.9); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$102k (likely −$188k – −$16k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $170k (likely −$2k – $368k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 86%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26