General Sales, Merchandising at St. Thomas Aquinas College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.46 suggests manageable student loans—comparable sales and merchandising programs nationally indicate first-year earnings around $53,400 against roughly $24,800 in debt. That translates to less than half a year's salary to repay, which falls within reasonable bounds. The fact that earnings appear relatively flat between year one and year four (moving from an estimated $53,400 to $55,200) is worth noting, though sales careers can be unpredictable in their trajectory depending heavily on industry, territory, and individual performance.

What complicates the picture here is New York's competitive landscape. While this program's estimated earnings align with national figures, other sales programs in the state show lower typical outcomes—the median across NY programs sits around $43,900. Rochester Institute of Technology and CUNY Baruch, two programs with actual reported data, both post first-year earnings in the low-to-mid $40,000s. This suggests either St. Thomas Aquinas's program may outperform state peers, or the national benchmark used for estimation doesn't fully capture New York's market reality.

The practical takeaway: if the $53,400 estimate holds true, the debt load is reasonable for a sales career. But given the limited actual data and the state's lower typical outcomes, confirm where recent graduates actually land jobs and what they're earning. Sales roles vary enormously by sector—B2B tech sales pays very differently than retail management—so understanding which paths this specific program feeds into matters more than broad estimates.