Business, Management, Marketing, at Mount St. Joseph University

A business degree with debt around $26,500 and first-year earnings near $51,000 sounds reasonable on paper, but there's a significant caveat here: both figures are national estimates, not actual outcomes from Mount St. Joseph's program. What makes this particularly tricky is that Ohio's business programs show far lower typical earnings—the state median sits at just $29,000, nearly half the national benchmark used here. Without Mount St. Joseph's actual data, we're left guessing whether its graduates track closer to national norms or fall into the lower Ohio pattern seen at comparable schools.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.52 looks manageable if that $51,000 estimate holds true, translating to monthly payments that shouldn't overwhelm a graduate's budget. But if outcomes align more closely with Ohio's reality—where the median debt actually exceeds $32,000 while earnings hover around $29,000—the picture darkens considerably. The school's 57% admission rate and modest SAT scores suggest it's not dramatically different from other Ohio programs where we do have data.

Before committing, push the financial aid office for more specifics: graduation rates, actual placement outcomes, and why their data isn't being reported. A business degree can absolutely pay off, but you need more certainty about whether this particular program delivers closer to the optimistic national estimate or Ohio's sobering reality.