Human Resources Management and Services at Rasmussen University-North Dakota

Rasmussen's HR program comes with a steep price tag—graduates carry $38,233 in debt, which lands them in the 94th percentile nationally for borrowing. That's considerably more than the typical HR graduate who exits with around $26,625. The upside? Starting salaries of $56,465 outperform both the national median ($50,361) and North Dakota's state median ($53,294), placing graduates in the 78th percentile nationally. However, within North Dakota's limited HR market, this only reaches the 60th percentile among the four programs available.

The real concern emerges in the trajectory: earnings essentially flatline over the first four years, dropping slightly to $56,152. This stagnation means that initial debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.68 doesn't improve much, leaving graduates managing payments that represent two-thirds of their annual income for longer than they might expect. Compare this to peers at Dickinson State who earn slightly less initially ($50,122) but likely carry far lighter debt loads.

For families weighing this investment, the calculation hinges on immediate earning power versus long-term costs. The strong starting salary makes the debt manageable in year one, but without earnings growth to accelerate repayment, you're looking at a longer payoff timeline than typical. If your student has in-state alternatives with lower borrowing, those deserve serious consideration despite this program's competitive starting salaries.