Health and Physical Education/Fitness at Fort Lewis College

Fort Lewis College graduates in Health and Physical Education start with strikingly low earnings—$24,419 puts them in just the 5th percentile nationally and below every comparable Colorado program. While the 42% earnings growth to $34,619 by year four shows real momentum, that still lags behind what most Colorado State or Metropolitan State graduates earn in their first year. The $15,000 debt load is the one bright spot here, coming in well below both state ($23,396) and national ($25,757) medians.

The program's 25th percentile ranking within Colorado reveals the core challenge: even with relatively modest debt, Fort Lewis PE graduates face a significant earnings gap compared to peers at other state schools. Metropolitan State graduates earn nearly 70% more starting out, while CSU-Fort Collins grads make $10,000 more annually even after Fort Lewis students have four years of career growth. For students planning to work in Colorado's fitness or education sectors, this wage disadvantage compounds over time despite the encouraging upward trajectory.

The low debt matters, but parents should weigh whether starting at half the earnings of peers at nearby state schools is worth the tradeoff. If your child is set on Fort Lewis for other reasons—location, smaller class sizes, campus culture—understand they'll likely need several years to catch up financially to graduates from larger Colorado programs, and may never fully close that gap.