Homeland Security at Pacific Union College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.55 is manageable—borrowers would owe about half their first year's salary—but the bigger question here is how much you can rely on these figures. With Pacific Union College's program producing too few graduates to report actual outcomes, both the $48,676 earnings estimate and $27,000 debt figure come from peer programs nationally. That national benchmark sits well below California's median of $63,963 for homeland security degrees, suggesting location and program structure matter significantly in this field.

The gap between what similar programs produce nationally versus what California programs deliver is substantial—roughly $15,000 in first-year earnings. National University, the only other California school with reported data, shows graduates earning nearly a third more than the national benchmark. Whether Pacific Union College's program tracks closer to California outcomes or national ones remains uncertain without actual graduate data. The school's Adventist affiliation and rural Napa Valley location could create either networking advantages in certain sectors or geographic constraints that affect job placement.

Given the uncertainty and the potential $15,000 swing in outcomes, treat this as a high-information-cost decision. If homeland security is the goal, you'll need to investigate Pacific Union's specific curriculum, career services, and where recent graduates actually land jobs—details the limited data can't reveal.