Home › Whittier College › Social Sciences, General

Social Sciences, General at Whittier College

Whittier, CA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's Degree
42 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
44
Optimistic
42
Base Case
37
Pessimistic
Earnings $20,660/yr (-47% vs median)
AI Risk High (45% exposed)
Job Market Very Large (318,400 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Social Sciences, General graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $237K $194K $154K
Earnings Multiple 1.2x 1.0x 0.8x
Viable Career Paths 11 of 11 11 of 11 10 of 11
DegreeWorth Score 44 42 37

10-Year Earnings Projection

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

4-Year Tuition
$199,456
Median Debt at Graduation
$24,937
14.5 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (4 Year)
$52,209
153% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Social Sciences, General graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 318,400 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Managers, all other $136,550 106,700 +4.5% 47%
Statisticians $103,300 2,000 +8.5% 66%
Sociologists $101,690 300 +3.6% 54%
Social scientists and related workers, all other $100,340 3,200 -1.7% 52%
Sociology teachers, postsecondary $82,540 1,100 +2.1% 43%
Social sciences teachers, postsecondary, all other $75,040 1,500 +1.7% 0%
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

Social Sciences, General at Other Schools

Mercer University ($61,612) Vanderbilt University ($61,389) University of Washington-Seattle Campus ($57,538) Harvard University ($56,540) Upper Iowa University ($56,221) Campbell University ($50,653) University of Maryland Global Campus ($50,557) New York University ($49,016)

Other Majors at Whittier College

Business Administration, Management and Operations ($40,073) Biology, General ($32,139) Psychology, General ($30,321) Political Science and Government ($29,616) English Language and Literature, General ($26,317) Health and Physical Education/Fitness ($24,055)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Social Sciences, General at Whittier College?
This program scores 42/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 44 (optimistic) to 37 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Social Sciences, General career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Social Sciences, General graduates retain 11 of 11 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $154,217 (pessimistic) to $236,844 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Social Sciences, General graduates?
The career paths mapped to Social Sciences, General have roughly 318,400 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a very large job market.
Is Social Sciences, General at Whittier College worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 1.0x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 0.8x. 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.