Health and Physical Education/Fitness at Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale

With nearly $40,000 in debt and first-year earnings of just $26,000, Keiser's Health and Physical Education program saddles graduates with one of the worst debt burdens in the nation—ranking in the 5th percentile. While earnings do climb 40% by year four, that improvement only brings graduates to $36,647, still below what the top Florida programs deliver right out of the gate. The program serves a predominantly Pell-eligible population at a near-open-admission institution, but those access-oriented features don't offset the financial risk when graduates start $10,000 deeper in debt than the Florida median for this field.

The middle-of-the-pack state ranking (40th percentile) tells you that Florida offers significantly better options for health and physical education degrees. University of Florida's online program, for instance, produces graduates earning $40,000 from year one with comparable or lower debt loads. The robust sample size here confirms these aren't outlier results—this is the typical outcome.

For a field where many graduates pursue teaching or coaching careers with modest pay scales, starting with $35,000 in debt creates real financial strain. Unless your child has substantial scholarship support that dramatically reduces this debt load, the stronger public university programs in Florida offer a clearer path to financial stability in this career field.