Biology at Lake Forest College

Lake Forest College's biology program shows a notably uneven trajectory that's hard to evaluate with confidence given the small sample size. The $33,380 starting salary sits just above the Illinois median, and while the 53% earnings jump to $51,029 by year four sounds impressive, that small cohort makes it unclear whether future graduates will follow the same path. More concerning: you're paying $27,000 in debt for outcomes that rank solidly middle-of-the-pack among Illinois biology programs, where several public universities deliver stronger returns with similar or lower debt loads.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.81 is manageable, and the program does eventually reach competitive earnings by year four. But compare this to Northern Illinois or SIUE, where biology grads start earning $5,000-8,000 more annually with comparable debt. Even if Lake Forest's graduates catch up later, they're spending those crucial early career years at a disadvantage. The 60th percentile ranking in Illinois means this program is essentially average in a state with 50 biology programs to choose from.

Unless Lake Forest offers something specific your child values—perhaps research opportunities or graduate school placement that isn't captured in these earnings—the numbers suggest looking at Illinois public universities first. The small sample size adds another layer of uncertainty: these figures could shift dramatically with just a few more data points.