Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions at Gateway Technical College

Gateway Technical College's Allied Health program starts with solid earnings but shows an unusual downward trajectory that deserves close attention. First-year graduates earn $53,437—reasonably close to the Wisconsin median of $55,208—but by year four, earnings drop to $45,261. While small sample size means this pattern might not hold for every graduate, it's worth understanding whether this reflects career patterns in specific allied health fields versus others.

The debt picture is actually better than both state and national averages at $18,113, creating a manageable 0.34 debt-to-earnings ratio based on first-year income. However, among Wisconsin's 17 allied health programs, Gateway ranks in the 40th percentile for earnings—meaning students at schools like Chippewa Valley Technical College ($69,672) or Madison Area Technical College ($62,646) are seeing significantly higher returns in the same state. That gap suggests either different program specializations or varying employment outcomes worth investigating.

For parents comparing Wisconsin technical colleges, Gateway offers a lower-debt entry point into allied health careers, but the earnings decline and below-median performance relative to state peers raises questions about which specific career tracks these graduates enter. Ask the program directly about career placement patterns and whether the earnings data reflects specific roles that typically see income shifts in early career years.