Religious/Sacred Music at Southeastern University

With fewer than 30 graduates tracked, these numbers are more sketch than photograph, but they tell an unusual story: Southeastern's religious music program lands at the national bottom for earnings yet hits the median among Florida's five programs. That discrepancy makes sense when you realize the national median is only $30,092—meaning this entire degree category clusters at the low end of college outcomes, and Florida programs sit at the bottom of that already-low range.

The $29,713 first-year salary paired with $27,500 in debt creates a manageable 0.93 ratio, meaning graduates owe roughly what they earn in their first year. That's workable, though it assumes stable employment in religious music roles that typically come with modest compensation. The real question isn't whether this is a bad financial deal compared to engineering—it's whether your child feels called to this work specifically, since the degree prepares for a narrow career path with limited earning potential.

For families comfortable with ministerial-level incomes and a student genuinely committed to sacred music ministry, the debt load won't derail their calling. But if there's any ambivalence about the career path, that $27,500 becomes harder to justify when the median graduate earns less than $30,000. This is a vocation degree, not an investment degree—approach it accordingly.