Health Professions at Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edison State University's Health Professions program reports some of the strongest first-year earnings in the country—95th percentile nationally—but the small sample size (under 30 graduates) makes these numbers fragile. At $72,628 initially, graduates earn substantially more than the $38,492 national median and even outpace the $60,889 New Jersey median. However, within the state, this program ranks only at the 60th percentile, and notably, earnings actually decline to $68,341 by year four. This backward trajectory is unusual for health fields and warrants scrutiny about which specific roles these graduates are entering.

The debt picture looks manageable at $19,018, giving graduates a 0.26 debt-to-earnings ratio that should be easy to handle even with declining earnings. But the core question is why earnings drop 6% over four years when most health careers see steady growth. This could reflect the program serving non-traditional students already working in healthcare who use the degree for lateral moves rather than advancement, or it might indicate these graduates are entering roles with limited upward mobility.

For parents evaluating this program: the impressive statistics come from too few graduates to be reliable predictors. If your student is already working in healthcare and needs a bachelor's credential, the low debt makes this reasonable. For someone expecting a traditional health career launch with earnings growth, these numbers don't tell a reassuring story about what happens after that strong first year.