Biological and Physical Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus

With first-year earnings barely crossing $28,000, Fairleigh Dickinson's Biological and Physical Sciences program ranks in the 10th percentile among New Jersey schools—a troubling position in a state where the typical graduate from this program earns nearly $49,000. That's a $20,500 gap between what your child might expect here versus the state median, and it puts them at a significant disadvantage compared to peers who could attend Thomas Edison State University and earn $69,000. Even nationally, where this field tends to pay modestly, FDU graduates land in just the 19th percentile.

The program does show 28% earnings growth over four years, reaching $36,500, but that's still playing catch-up from an extremely low starting point. The debt load of $26,250 isn't catastrophic, but relative to those first-year earnings it creates nearly a 1:1 debt-to-income ratio—manageable only if your child is willing to live very frugally in expensive northern New Jersey during those early years.

The caveat here matters: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so individual outcomes could vary significantly. But when a program ranks this poorly within its own state, the small sample might be revealing rather than misleading—it suggests few students are choosing this path, possibly for good reason. Unless your child has compelling circumstances tying them to FDU specifically, New Jersey offers demonstrably stronger options in this field.