Degree PathwaysExplore before you choose
Explore free →
For students, families and counselors

Explore a direction
before you choose one.

Start with a university, a field of study, or a career you are curious about. Degree Pathways brings together published federal data on fields of study, past graduate earnings, debt and related careers, so you can find possibilities worth investigating. Every figure is a published U.S. government number with its source one tap away.

Start exploring free → See how it works ↓
✅ Free to explore, no account🧭 A starting point, not a recommendation🏛 142 universities, federal data
degree-pathways-app.julieclarkson.com
Degree Pathways showing every field of study a university reports degrees in, each card carrying the published median pay for its graduates four years out
A welcoming place to begin

Finding a direction should not run on guesswork.

Most people start from hearsay, a ranking, or a brochure. The U.S. government already publishes what past graduates in each field at each university went on to earn, and which careers are connected with each field. It is just buried in files nobody reads. Degree Pathways puts it in front of you, in one clear format, for free. It will not pick anything for you, and it is not meant to.

Why we say “field of study”

Degree Pathways uses federal Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) data. These fields are useful for exploring academic directions, but they may not match the exact names of majors or concentrations in a university catalog. Once you find a field that interests you, check the school's catalog for its current programs, requirements and course options.

Follow what interests you

Turn a long list of fields into a short list worth investigating.

Every field appears in the same format, with a source link on every figure. Start from a career you have in mind, or browse the whole federal catalog grouped by subject area, and save the possibilities you want to keep thinking about.

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Pick your school

142 U.S. universities, every undergraduate field of study each one reports degrees in. No account, quiz or setup required.

2
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Search it, or browse it

Type a career or a field, or browse every field a university reports, grouped by subject area. Every card shows the pay figure up front.

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Line up your finalists

See connected careers, past graduate earnings, typical debt and related fields, then compare your shortlist side by side.

Explore your school for free →
Two helpful ways to explore

Start here. Then let your questions take you further.

Degree Pathways and AI make a good team. Use Degree Pathways for the part AI cannot do reliably: a consistent, sourced view of every field a university actually reports. Then bring your shortlist to AI, the university catalog and an advisor for the deeper conversation.

💬 AI search🧭 Degree Pathways
Explores the questions you bringIntroduces options you may not know to ask about
Answers from a model's memoryAnswers only from published federal files, with a source link on every number
Helps you investigate one idea in depthHelps you scan and narrow many ideas
Offers a conversational explanationOffers a repeatable comparison
Lets you follow your curiosity with new promptsKeeps measures and timeframes consistent
Provides a flexible space for open-ended researchKeeps shortlists and comparisons together
Can help with many related questionsIs purpose-built for this one decision

Keep exploring: start with Degree Pathways to find the questions. Use AI to explore them. Then verify the details in the university catalog and plan the path with the people who know you.

Where every number comes from

We publish no numbers of our own.

Every dollar figure on the screen is a number the federal government already published, shown with its date and its source. Nothing is averaged, adjusted, projected or blended into a figure of ours.

One field of study, one college
An earnings chart showing published median earnings for graduates represented in this field one and four years out, beside the national median for the field today, each figure linked to College Scorecard or the Census
🏛 IPEDSWhich fields of study a university reports degrees in, and how many graduate. Required federal reporting for colleges that participate in federal student aid under Title IV.
💵 College ScorecardPublished median earnings for graduates represented in each field of study, built from actual IRS tax records, not self-reported by the university.
📊 U.S. Census (ACS)What the field pays nationally today, shown beside the school's record and never blended with it.
🧭 O*NETThe U.S. Dept. of Labor's own field-to-occupation crosswalk. The only thing allowed to connect a field of study with a career.

Old figures and current ones sit side by side, each clearly dated, so you can see a university's published record for a field and today's market at once. Read the full methods.

Degree Pathways on a phone, showing fields of study with their earnings
Take your ideas with you

Built for the phone in your hand.

One column, real tap targets, and the pay figure on every card so you can scan without opening each one. Save the fields that interest you, or send a clear field-of-study card to a parent, counselor or advisor. Nothing to install, and nothing about your exploring is sent to us.

When it comes down to two or three

Compare possibilities side by side.

Compare several fields at one university, or look at the same field across universities. Degree Pathways keeps the measures, dates and sources visible so you can spot differences and decide what deserves a closer look.

Within one college
Three fields of study at one university compared side by side on published median pay at one, four and five years out, student debt, pay to debt ratio, degrees awarded and connected careers, with a panel explaining how to read a gap between fields
Three fields at one university. Up to three at once, on published median pay at one, four and five years out, how each compares with its national median, typical debt, pay against debt, degrees awarded, and how many careers are connected with it.
Same field, different colleges
The same field of study compared at three universities on published median pay at one, four and five years out, debt and degrees awarded, with a panel explaining how to read a gap between universities
One field, several universities. The question a family actually asks. Published earnings for the same field, four years out, can differ by tens of thousands from one university to the next. A difference like that is not evidence that the university caused it: where graduates settle, which industries they enter and who enrolled all contribute. Every figure is published by the federal government and dated, and the app explains on screen what a gap is actually made of.

Both views print to a clean one-page PDF and export to CSV, so you can take them to an advisor or sit down with them at the kitchen table. Comparison is part of the 12-month pass; exploring every field is free.

Start with free explorations

Explore first. Choose how you'd like to keep going.

Explore free

Start with no signup
$0
  • ✅ After some free tries, keep exploring for free by joining the newsletter
  • ✅ Browse 142 schools and every field each one awards
  • ✅ Search by career or by field of study
  • ✅ See past graduate earnings, debt, related fields and connected careers
  • ✅ Save and share the fields that interest you

Compare · 12-month pass

One payment · up to 5 devices · no subscription
$9.99
  • ➕ Compare up to 3 fields within one university
  • ➕ Compare the same field across universities
  • ➕ Save a clean PDF one-pager
  • ➕ Export your comparison data to CSV

The pass is a one-time payment, valid for 12 months on up to 5 devices. It is not a subscription and does not auto-renew. Try free explorations first, then decide whether the comparison tools would be useful to you.

Your next direction may be waiting

Start with curiosity. Leave with better questions.

Start exploring for free →