Public Health at Muhlenberg College

At $20,900 in first-year earnings, Muhlenberg's public health program underperforms nearly every alternative available to Pennsylvania students. That figure sits in just the 10th percentile statewide—meaning nine out of ten comparable PA programs deliver better outcomes. Temple, Franklin & Marshall, and even regional state schools like Slippery Rock place graduates at roughly double Muhlenberg's earnings within the first year. While the $26,038 debt load appears manageable on paper, it actually exceeds first-year earnings, creating immediate financial pressure for new graduates.

The small sample size (under 30 graduates) means these numbers could shift year to year, but the gap is too substantial to dismiss as statistical noise. Even accounting for uncertainty, this program trails the Pennsylvania median by nearly $18,000 and the national median by over $16,000. At a selective liberal arts college with strong academics (median SAT of 1327), you'd expect career services and alumni networks to compensate for any curriculum differences, yet outcomes remain stubbornly low.

For families paying private college tuition, this represents a particularly poor value proposition. If your child is committed to public health, Pennsylvania offers multiple programs—both public and private—with significantly stronger earnings trajectories and similar debt profiles. Unless Muhlenberg offers other compelling reasons to attend, the financial math simply doesn't work here.