Iowa State
Iowa State Majors
Iowa State awards bachelor's degrees in 86 fields, about 6,467 a year. The largest are Mechanical Engineering, Business Administration, Marketing.
| Major | Degrees a year | Earnings, 1 year out | Earnings, 4 years out | Median federal debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 356 | $72,900 | $85,938 | $23,500 |
| Business Administration | 345 | $57,188 | $78,304 | $22,250 |
| Marketing | 331 | $48,304 | $66,482 | $23,250 |
| Kinesiology and Exercise Science | 250 | $36,492 | $60,059 | $25,425 |
| Psychology | 246 | $34,155 | $49,286 | $23,121 |
| Computer Engineering | 243 | $79,182 | $105,753 | $24,337 |
| Animal Sciences | 235 | $39,567 | $51,644 | $21,500 |
| Teacher Education | 231 | $45,512 | $47,462 | $25,000 |
| Design | 216 | $37,565 | $52,671 | $27,000 |
| Finance | 212 | $56,974 | $75,360 | $21,750 |
| Agricultural Business and Management | 177 | $53,967 | $67,529 | $16,972 |
| Computer and Information Sciences | 174 | $60,397 | $83,267 | $24,438 |
| Biology | 158 | $32,528 | $53,447 | $24,614 |
| Civil Engineering | 123 | $72,502 | $85,427 | $25,250 |
| Aerospace Engineering | 121 | $75,036 | $94,089 | $26,572 |
| Accounting | 118 | $58,479 | $70,706 | $23,250 |
| Plant Sciences | 112 | $49,393 | $60,997 | $20,500 |
| Electrical Engineering | 112 | $84,913 | $99,705 | $26,997 |
| Criminal Justice | 110 | $41,624 | $61,166 | $23,250 |
| Computer Science | 106 | $78,517 | $104,211 | $24,663 |
| Industrial Engineering | 102 | $74,310 | $92,914 | $23,750 |
| Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | 102 | $29,842 | $39,143 | $24,347 |
| Chemical Engineering | 94 | $76,184 | $92,773 | $20,188 |
| Environmental Science and Conservation | 92 | $37,890 | $51,387 | $22,227 |
| Hospitality Management | 91 | $36,743 | $55,491 | $20,998 |
| Engineering-Related Fields | 84 | $62,416 | $82,548 | $25,236 |
| Public Relations and Advertising | 80 | $42,530 | $62,965 | $24,750 |
| Apparel and Textiles | 76 | $40,849 | $60,349 | $23,204 |
| Political Science | 74 | $30,715 | $57,752 | $23,250 |
| Architectural Sciences and Technology | 73 | $57,928 | $31,000 | |
| Communications | 70 | $40,497 | $57,110 | $19,425 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | 67 | |||
| Subject-Area Teacher Education | 66 | $47,559 | $52,622 | $19,000 |
| Liberal Arts | 66 | $36,532 | $54,889 | $28,623 |
| English Language and Literature | 65 | $38,375 | $49,626 | $24,000 |
| Agricultural Engineering | 62 | $72,376 | $88,576 | $21,500 |
| Mathematics | 59 | $51,422 | $62,261 | $22,942 |
| Construction Engineering | 58 | $77,845 | $100,676 | $20,500 |
| History | 58 | $41,294 | $52,934 | $26,007 |
| Education | 55 | |||
| Human Development and Family Studies | 48 | $36,364 | $46,253 | $24,958 |
| Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | 48 | $46,374 | $21,500 | |
| Romance Languages | 47 | $37,909 | $61,697 | $23,748 |
| Agricultural Mechanization | 45 | $63,321 | $78,890 | $20,946 |
| Journalism | 44 | $39,347 | $53,633 | $23,250 |
| Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services | 38 | $33,958 | $54,391 | $21,000 |
| Materials Engineering | 37 | $65,831 | $83,416 | $23,125 |
| Economics | 36 | $57,619 | $75,355 | $23,414 |
| Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 35 | $43,520 | $63,026 | $19,477 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology | 32 | $39,019 | $49,875 | $22,500 |
| International Agriculture | 31 | $52,068 | $56,405 | $22,250 |
| Forestry | 30 | $39,337 | $52,650 | $19,437 |
| Genetics | 30 | $33,330 | $55,037 | $21,631 |
| City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning | 29 | $44,146 | $61,173 | $27,000 |
| Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations | 29 | |||
| Sociology | 29 | $40,602 | $55,714 | $21,935 |
| Chemistry | 27 | $43,870 | $66,486 | $23,250 |
| Statistics | 26 | $53,132 | $72,581 | $23,625 |
| Sustainability Studies | 26 | |||
| Anthropology | 25 | $25,014 | $43,443 | $27,607 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 19 | $25,065 | $40,726 | $24,793 |
| Food Science and Technology | 17 | $60,351 | $65,943 | $26,254 |
| Geology and Earth Science | 17 | $50,150 | $65,204 | $26,250 |
| Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies | 16 | $62,341 | $18,062 | |
| Computational Science | 16 | |||
| Physics | 16 | |||
| International Business | 16 | |||
| Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering | 15 | |||
| Business/Managerial Economics | 15 | $93,379 | ||
| Writing | 14 | $69,673 | ||
| Nutrition Sciences | 14 | $53,933 | $16,474 | |
| Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology | 14 | $52,786 | ||
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | 11 | |||
| Visual and Performing Arts | 11 | $39,403 | ||
| Human Resources | 11 | |||
| Public Administration | 10 | |||
| Nursing | 10 | |||
| Area Studies | 9 | $61,860 | ||
| Philosophy | 9 | $21,906 | ||
| Music | 9 | |||
| Allied Health | 9 | $44,892 | $27,000 | |
| Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology | 8 | |||
| Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences | 7 | $43,783 | $51,531 | $23,250 |
| Medical Illustration and Informatics | 6 | $49,493 | $22,059 | |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies | 4 | $36,006 | $54,064 | $25,687 |
| Religion/Religious Studies | 2 |
A blank cell means the figure is withheld, usually because the program is small.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most popular majors at Iowa State?
By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Mechanical Engineering (356), Business Administration (345), Marketing (331), Kinesiology and Exercise Science (250), Psychology (246).
Which Iowa State majors earn the most?
Four years after graduation, the highest median earnings are in Computer Engineering ($105,753), Computer Science ($104,211), Construction Engineering ($100,676), Electrical Engineering ($99,705), Aerospace Engineering ($94,089). Earnings are reported for 68 of Iowa State's 86 programs.
How many majors does Iowa State have?
Iowa State awarded bachelor's degrees in 86 federal program categories in the most recent year reported. A college's own list of majors can be longer or shorter, because several named majors often fall under one federal category.
Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release. Programs are federal categories, which do not always match the names Iowa State uses. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, four years after a bachelor's degree, and are withheld for small programs.
