Communication Disorders Sciences and Services at St. John's University-New York

The dramatic earnings jump here—from $19,067 to $61,347 over four years—tells you exactly what's happening: St. John's communication disorders program is designed as a pipeline to graduate school. That first-year number reflects graduates working entry-level jobs while pursuing their master's degrees (required for speech-language pathology licensure), while the four-year figure shows the payoff once they're practicing clinicians. The $23,250 debt load is manageable given those eventual earnings, though it's worth noting this figure doesn't include what students will borrow for their required graduate work.

The challenging part is that among New York programs, St. John's underperforms—ranking in just the 25th percentile statewide and trailing affordable public options like CUNY Lehman ($36,241) and Brooklyn College ($26,817) by substantial margins. When you're looking at a field that requires expensive graduate training regardless of where you start, paying more for undergraduate preparation that yields lower four-year outcomes deserves scrutiny.

If your child is committed to speech pathology and has stronger in-state public options available, those represent better value for the undergraduate phase. St. John's graduates clearly do reach professional-level salaries eventually, but the small sample size (under 30 students) and weaker comparative performance suggest other New York programs may offer a more efficient path to the same career destination.