Biology at Franklin College

Franklin College biology graduates earn significantly less than their Indiana peers—about $5,000 below the state median and trailing every comparison school by substantial margins. While the debt load is manageable at $27,000, the first-year earnings of $31,000 place graduates in the 40th percentile statewide, meaning six out of ten Indiana biology programs deliver better starting salaries. That gap matters when you're comparing options like Purdue (30% higher earnings) or Indiana State (41% higher) at similar debt levels.

The small sample size here is worth noting—we're looking at fewer than 30 graduates, so individual circumstances could skew these numbers considerably. Still, the pattern is concerning: biology majors typically face challenging job markets regardless of school, but Franklin's outcomes lag behind both state and national benchmarks. The 0.87 debt-to-earnings ratio isn't catastrophic, but it means your child would be carrying nearly a year's salary in debt while earning less than most Indiana biology graduates.

If your child is set on biology and considering Franklin, understand they'll likely need graduate school for career advancement—a reality for most biology majors—but they'll be starting from a weaker financial position than at Indiana's larger public universities. The lower admission standards and smaller school environment may offer other benefits, but purely from an earnings standpoint, this program underperforms its in-state alternatives.