Is a Religion/Religious Studies degree worth it?
Across 35 schools, graduates of Religion/Religious Studies earn a median $44,246 five years out on $24,474 of debt — most often working as Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$44,246
Median debt
$24,474
Years to pay off
5.5
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
51%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+1.1%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
30.6%
$54,166 vs $37,586
Net price
$21,253/yr
Debt-test failures
30.8%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$19,944
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Religion/Religious Studies in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.