Public Health at Duke University

Duke's Public Health program carries an elite university price tag but delivers surprisingly middle-of-the-road outcomes for North Carolina. While first-year earnings of $45,921 beat the national median by 22%, several in-state public universities—notably NC A&T at $58,660 and UNC Greensboro at $42,239—produce comparable or better results. The 60th percentile ranking among North Carolina public health programs is particularly striking given Duke's 7% admission rate and stratospheric SAT scores. You're essentially paying Ivy-adjacent tuition for outcomes that land in the middle of the state pack.

The silver lining here is debt: at just $12,500, Duke's graduates carry less than half the typical burden for this field ($26,000 nationally). That 0.27 debt-to-earnings ratio means Duke's financial aid is doing real work to offset sticker prices for those who receive it. Still, this translates to roughly 3 months of gross salary in debt—excellent on paper, but the question remains whether Duke's selectivity and resources should yield better than 60th-percentile state outcomes.

For families paying full freight at Duke, this deserves scrutiny. The debt story only helps students receiving substantial aid, and even they're looking at first-year earnings that trail NC A&T graduates by nearly $13,000. Unless Duke opens specific career doors in your family's situation, the state's public options offer better value in this particular program.