Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies at Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus

The small sample size here makes definitive judgments difficult, but these early numbers are troubling. Graduates earning $23,399 in their first year—about $18,000 below the national median for writing programs—face immediate financial strain with $26,500 in debt. That's roughly equivalent to their entire annual salary, making standard loan repayment challenging on a salary that barely exceeds $11 per hour.

Here's the puzzle: while this program ranks in the 60th percentile among Ohio writing programs, that's largely because writing graduates across the state earn significantly less than the national average. The real comparison point should be Miami University-Oxford, where writing graduates nearly double these earnings at $42,287, or even Bowling Green and Youngstown State, both exceeding $31,000. The Chillicothe campus appears to match its sister campuses in Eastern and Southern Ohio, but that regional pattern suggests limited local opportunities for writing professionals rather than a successful program outcome.

For parents considering this investment: a four-year degree that leads to earnings below typical retail management positions deserves serious scrutiny. If your student is committed to writing or communications, explore whether the Athens main campus or other Ohio publics offer better employment connections. The debt load is manageable in absolute terms, but only if post-graduation earnings improve substantially—something that's far from guaranteed given the starting point.