Public Health at University of Southern Mississippi

Southern Miss's Public Health program sits in an uncomfortable middle ground: while it ranks in the 60th percentile among Mississippi's limited options for this major, graduates earn just $28,363 in their first year—landing in the 5th percentile nationally. More troubling is the earnings trajectory: four years out, median income actually drops to $25,122, a decline that's hard to explain and harder to justify when managing $28,375 in student debt.

The debt itself isn't unusually high, but paired with these earnings figures, you're looking at a debt-to-income ratio of 1:1 in year one that only worsens as salaries fall. Compare this to the national median of $37,548 for public health graduates, and the gap becomes stark—even accounting for Mississippi's lower cost of living, this program's outcomes lag significantly. The state context offers little comfort: being 60th percentile in Mississippi simply means slightly outperforming the already-low state median of $27,458.

For a family considering this investment, the question isn't just about admission (99% acceptance rate suggests few barriers to entry) but whether this path leads somewhere sustainable. At under $26,000 annually four years post-graduation, these graduates are earning less than many jobs requiring no degree at all. Unless this is a stepping stone to graduate school—where public health careers often start—the bachelor's degree alone appears to struggle in the job market. If your child is committed to public health, exploring programs with stronger employment pipelines or considering whether graduate school is the intended endpoint would be wise first steps.