Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

A $27,000 debt load against first-year earnings near $36,400—based on what similar Indiana health sciences programs produce—puts Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in workable territory, with debt representing about nine months of gross income. This falls right in line with state and national medians for bachelor's programs in this field, suggesting the estimated figures reflect reasonable expectations rather than outlier outcomes.

The challenge becomes clearer when you look at what Indiana's top health sciences programs achieve. Ball State and Purdue Global graduates earn over $41,000 in their first year—roughly $5,000 more annually than peer programs suggest for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Over a career, that gap compounds significantly. The school serves a predominantly working-class student body (51% receive Pell grants), so the difference between a comfortable debt burden and a tight one matters considerably.

Since these are estimated figures drawn from comparable programs rather than this school's actual graduate outcomes, you're making a decision with incomplete information. The debt-to-earnings ratio suggests manageability, but without knowing whether Saint Mary-of-the-Woods graduates actually achieve these peer program results, you're banking on an assumption. If your student has admission offers from Ball State or University of Saint Francis—schools with proven outcomes in the $39,000-$42,000 range—those programs offer more certainty about the return on investment.