Human Services at Elmira College

Elmira College's Human Services program produces graduates earning below both state and national medians, but with a small graduating class (under 30 students), these figures may not tell the complete story. First-year earnings of $35,437 lag nearly $6,000 behind New York's median for this degree, placing graduates in just the 40th percentile statewide—meaning six out of ten comparable programs produce better-earning graduates right out of the gate.

The debt picture offers a small bright spot: at $27,000, borrowing is roughly $2,000 less than the state median and well below the national average. Still, with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.76, graduates face nearly nine months of their first year's salary in loan obligations. The 19% earnings bump by year four helps narrow this gap, bringing graduates closer to competitive territory, though they remain behind peers from CUNY, Syracuse, and other New York programs that start stronger financially.

For parents, the question becomes whether Elmira's 91% acceptance rate and smaller class sizes justify lagging earnings outcomes. The manageable debt load matters, but your child would likely build more financial security starting at a SUNY or CUNY campus where human services graduates earn $5,000-$7,000 more annually from day one. Given the limited sample size, request detailed placement data directly from Elmira before committing—you need confidence these numbers represent a genuine trend rather than statistical noise.