Health and Medical Administrative Services at Southern Oregon University

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.60 sounds manageable on paper, but there's a significant wrinkle here: comparable programs in Oregon produce median earnings of $56,031—about $11,700 more than the national benchmark this estimate is based on. If Southern Oregon's graduates actually performed at Oregon's state level, that ratio would look even better. However, with such limited graduate data that the Department of Education can't report actual outcomes, you're making an investment decision in the dark. The $26,592 estimated debt load is notably lower than Oregon's median of $46,532 for this field, which could reflect either SOU's lower costs or a different student population mix.

Healthcare administration bachelor's programs nationally span a wide range of outcomes, from $44,345 at the median to over $50,000 at the top quartile. Where Southern Oregon falls within that spectrum is genuinely unknown. The school's 83% admission rate and relatively modest Pell grant percentage suggest it serves a broad student base, but without actual graduate earnings, you can't verify whether their specific curriculum and employer connections deliver results that justify even the moderate debt level. For a parent, this means accepting considerable uncertainty about return on investment—you're essentially betting that SOU performs at least as well as the national average, and ideally closer to Oregon's stronger outcomes, without hard evidence either way.