Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences at Hampton University

Hampton's Health Sciences bachelor's degree leaves graduates with $27,000 in debt—right at Virginia's median but slightly above the national benchmark for similar programs. The concerning part is what comes next: based on comparable programs across Virginia, first-year earnings average around $36,600. That's barely above the national median of $35,279, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.74. For context, you're looking at roughly nine months of pre-tax income needed to cover educational debt, which is manageable but leaves little room for error if your child's actual outcomes fall below the state average.

The real challenge here is the missing data itself. When the Department of Education suppresses earnings figures due to small sample sizes, it often signals either a tiny graduating class or graduates scattered across too many career paths to track reliably. This makes Hampton's outcomes harder to predict than programs with robust data. The $36,600 estimate comes from just three Virginia programs in this field, meaning your child's actual trajectory could vary significantly depending on which specific health science track they pursue and whether they continue to graduate school—a common path in this field that the first-year earnings don't capture.

Bottom line: the debt load is reasonable and Hampton serves a substantial population of Pell-eligible students, but you're buying into uncertainty. Pin down exactly which health career your child is targeting and verify that Hampton's specific program track has strong placement rates before committing.