Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies at University of Cincinnati-Main Campus

That $223,926 first-year salary sounds impressive until you realize only three schools in the country report data for this highly specialized post-baccalaureate certificate, and UC's graduating class is tiny—fewer than 30 students. The sample is so small that the national median, 75th percentile, and UC's own outcomes are essentially identical figures. What looks like 95th percentile national performance is really just a reflection of extremely limited data, not necessarily evidence of exceptional outcomes. The 60th percentile state ranking (where there are only two reporting programs) tells you even less.

The genuinely good news is the debt picture: $16,250 is minimal for any graduate credential, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of just 0.07. If these earnings hold—and that's a big if with such a small cohort—graduates could theoretically pay off their loans in less than a month. But without knowing what this certificate actually prepares students for or why outcomes vary among the handful of programs offering it, you're making a decision almost entirely in the dark.

Before your child enrolls, demand specifics: What clinical roles do graduates typically fill? How stable are those employment paths? Most importantly, ask UC for actual placement data from the last few cohorts, not just these averages. With numbers this thin, a single unusual outcome—a graduate who went into a lucrative specialty versus one who continued training—could swing the entire picture.