Design and Applied Arts at Shawnee State University

At $24,375 one year out, Shawnee State's Design and Applied Arts graduates earn roughly $9,000 less than Ohio's state median for this field—and $27,000 below what University of Cincinnati grads in the same program make. While the 40th percentile state ranking suggests this isn't the worst option in Ohio, it falls in the bottom 10% nationally. The $29,000 in debt is actually slightly above both state and national medians, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.19 that leaves little financial breathing room in that first year.

The small sample size here is critical: with fewer than 30 graduates in the data, these figures could shift dramatically year to year. A few graduates taking lower-paying apprenticeships or moving to lower cost-of-living areas could skew the entire picture. That said, the gap between these earnings and what other Ohio programs produce is too large to ignore, even accounting for statistical noise.

If your child is passionate about design and committed to Shawnee State for other reasons—proximity to home, specific faculty, affordability during school—understand they'll likely need a clear plan for building their portfolio and connecting with employers beyond Portsmouth. Otherwise, Ohio offers multiple programs in this field where graduates start with nearly double these earnings, which fundamentally changes the debt payoff timeline.