Master's · Middlebury, Vermont

Is Public Administration at Middlebury College 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 in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 5.8 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $66,389; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $96,581; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $78,072; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $83k (likely $83k – $83k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $34k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in VT; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 5.8 years (likely 4.4–7.9); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $29k (likely −$81k – $159k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $463k (likely $217k – $766k); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.