Human Services at Pennsylvania College of Technology

Penn College of Technology's Human Services program lands in the middle of the pack nationally but actually outperforms most Pennsylvania competitors—ranking in the 60th percentile for earnings among the 11 schools offering this degree in-state. That's notable given that several PA programs produce lower earnings while carrying similar debt loads. The $35,787 first-year salary trails the national median by only $843, which is a respectable showing for a field that typically offers modest starting pay in exchange for meaningful work.

The debt picture is less encouraging: $42,463 represents the 74th percentile nationally (meaning three-quarters of similar programs graduate students with less debt), creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.19. That's manageable but not comfortable, especially in a helping profession where salary growth can be slow. However, it's worth noting this matches Pennsylvania's state median debt for the program, suggesting this may be more of a state funding issue than a school-specific problem.

The small sample size here is a real limitation—with under 30 graduates in the data, one or two outliers could skew these numbers significantly. For families committed to human services work in Pennsylvania, this program performs adequately against in-state alternatives, but the debt level means your child should have realistic expectations about early-career budgeting and potentially living at home initially to manage loan payments.