Human Development, Family Studies, at Southern Wesleyan University

Southern Wesleyan's Human Development program sits in an uncomfortable middle ground: it outperforms most South Carolina programs in the field (60th percentile statewide) but trails the national median by about $2,200 annually. The real concern is the debt load—at nearly $40,000, graduates carry roughly 60% more debt than the national median for this major and significantly more than the typical South Carolina program. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.27 means borrowers will struggle to follow standard repayment guidelines in their first year.

The story gets more complicated with context. This is an open-admission institution serving a substantial population of lower-income students, and the program does manage to place graduates above the state's median outcome. However, the small sample size here matters—with fewer than 30 graduates in the data, a few outliers could be skewing results in either direction. The earnings disadvantage compared to national peers suggests graduates may be competing primarily in lower-cost regional markets rather than accessing higher-paying opportunities elsewhere.

For families considering this program, the question is whether that $40,000 in debt makes sense for a career starting around $31,000. Even with modest raises, repayment will likely strain household budgets for years. If your child has access to in-state alternatives with similar outcomes but lower borrowing costs, that's worth serious consideration.