Home › Southern Illinois University-Carbondale › Economics

Economics at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Carbondale, IL · Public · Bachelor's Degree
62 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
65
Optimistic
62
Base Case
55
Pessimistic
Earnings $37,798/yr (-30% vs median)
AI Risk Very High (56% exposed)
Job Market Very Large (293,500 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Economics graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $591K $404K $260K
Earnings Multiple 11.2x 7.6x 4.9x
Viable Career Paths 9 of 9 9 of 9 8 of 9
DegreeWorth Score 65 62 55

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition
$52,976
Median Debt at Graduation
$21,201
6.7 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$54,554
44% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Economics graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 293,500 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Managers, all other $136,550 106,700 +4.5% 47%
Economics teachers, postsecondary $119,980 1,200 +2.1% 48%
Economists $115,440 900 +1.2% 61%
Data scientists $112,590 23,400 +33.5% 64%
Statisticians $103,300 2,000 +8.5% 66%
Market research analysts and marketing specialists $76,950 87,200 +6.7% 55%
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education $64,580 66,200 -1.6% 33%
Survey researchers $63,380 700 -5.2% 62%

Compare & Explore

Economics at Other Schools

Harvard University ($103,993) Princeton University ($103,041) Duke University ($98,649) Stanford University ($98,104) Dartmouth College ($94,675) University of Chicago ($92,075) Amherst College ($90,568) Claremont McKenna College ($89,505)

Other Majors at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Fire Protection ($104,017) Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians ($73,283) Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians ($72,495) Computer Science ($70,053) Mechanical Engineering ($69,454) Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions ($69,021) Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering ($68,670) Civil Engineering ($65,269)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Economics at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale?
This program scores 62/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 65 (optimistic) to 55 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Economics career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Economics graduates retain 9 of 9 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $260,200 (pessimistic) to $591,175 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Economics graduates?
The career paths mapped to Economics have roughly 293,500 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a very large job market.
Is Economics at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 7.6x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 4.9x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.