Public Health at Franklin and Marshall College

Franklin and Marshall's public health program delivers above-average earnings with relatively manageable debt, though the small graduate pool means these numbers could shift significantly year to year. At $43,134, first-year earnings outpace both the national median ($37,548) and Pennsylvania's median ($39,072), putting graduates roughly on par with Temple's—the state's top earner for this major. The debt load of $20,875 sits well below typical borrowing levels, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio that's quite workable at under 50%.

The cautionary note here is sample size: with fewer than 30 graduates tracked, a handful of outliers could be driving these results. That said, the combination of F&M's strong liberal arts reputation and a competitive job market in the Philadelphia-Baltimore corridor likely helps explain why graduates edge ahead of state peers. For context, public health bachelor's degrees rarely command high starting salaries regardless of school prestige, so any program clearing $43,000 deserves attention.

If your child is genuinely interested in public health and already admitted to F&M, the financials look reasonable—provided the overall cost of attendance doesn't balloon that debt figure significantly. Just remember these aren't nursing or clinical salaries; this is typically a stepping stone to graduate school, public sector work, or nonprofit roles where passion matters as much as the paycheck.