Health and Physical Education/Fitness at Manhattanville University

Manhattanville's Health and Physical Education program starts rough but recovers—graduates earn just $25,592 in year one, about $2,000 below New York's median for this field and in the bottom 15% nationally. That's a tough launch when you're carrying $26,000 in debt. However, earnings nearly double by year four to $47,740, eventually surpassing both state and national benchmarks for this degree.

The catch: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so these numbers could swing significantly with a different cohort. Within New York, the program lands at the 40th percentile—middle of the pack—but well behind top state performers like St. John Fisher and SUNY Oneonta, where graduates start in the mid-$30,000s. The $47,740 four-year figure is promising, but it's unclear whether this reflects career progression in teaching and coaching roles or if some graduates moved into higher-paying adjacent fields.

For families considering this program, the key question is whether your child can weather those difficult first few years. The debt load is manageable relative to eventual earnings, but that initial period requires either substantial family support or side income. If your student is committed to physical education or coaching and has a backup plan for those lean early years, the long-term trajectory looks decent. But given the small sample and better-performing alternatives within New York's public university system, this shouldn't be the only school on your list.