Hospitality Administration/Management at Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University's hospitality program graduates earn about $3,000 less than the typical Illinois graduate in this field—landing at the 40th percentile statewide. That gap widens when comparing to top Illinois programs like National Louis University, where graduates earn $42,196, nearly 30% more. At $32,337 annually, your child would be making roughly $2,500 below the national median for hospitality management programs, placing them in the bottom third nationally.

The debt load of $25,001 matches the state median and sits reasonably close to national norms, yielding a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.77. That means your child could theoretically pay off loans within about 13 months of gross salary—not terrible on paper, but concerning given the low absolute earnings. In practical terms, they'd be starting their career making less than many retail management positions, with nearly a year's salary in debt to service.

The fundamental challenge here is that hospitality management doesn't command high starting salaries anywhere, but NIU's outcomes lag behind peers in the same state. With 46% of students receiving Pell grants, many families are borrowing to access a program that delivers below-average returns. Unless your child has specific NIU advantages—like location preferences or strong industry connections through the program—higher-earning alternatives exist within Illinois at institutions like National Louis or Roosevelt.