Health and Medical Administrative Services at Southeast Missouri State University

Southeast Missouri State's health administration program lands well below where most Missouri students end up in this field. At $38,382 in first-year earnings, graduates earn about $12,000 less than the state median, placing this program in just the 25th percentile among Missouri's 21 health administration offerings. For context, nearby competitors like Columbia College and Missouri Baptist University report starting salaries around $54,000. The debt load of $27,176 is reasonable and actually lower than typical, but that's cold comfort when earnings are this far behind peers.

The concerning part isn't just the starting salary—it's that Missouri has a strong healthcare administration job market, as evidenced by the state median exceeding the national benchmark. Yet this program significantly underperforms that advantage. Whether that reflects the program's curriculum, internship connections, or the types of roles graduates pursue isn't clear from the data alone. It's worth noting the sample size here is small, so a few outliers could be skewing the picture.

For families considering this program, the math works better than many degrees—the 0.71 debt-to-earnings ratio means debt is manageable on these salaries. But you'd be paying four years of tuition and effort for outcomes that trail three-quarters of Missouri programs in the same field. Unless there are specific reasons to choose Cape Girardeau, exploring programs with track records closer to that $50,000+ state median makes financial sense.