Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations at York College of Pennsylvania

York College charges $25,000 in median debt for a bachelor's in Intelligence and Command Control that, based on national peer programs, should position graduates to earn around $61,000 in their first year. That debt load sits right at the national median for this specialized field, creating a manageable 0.41 debt-to-earnings ratio that most graduates could handle within a few years.

The catch: Pennsylvania programs in this field typically produce lower outcomes than the national average—Mercyhurst's graduates, for instance, earn $52,000 rather than the $61,000 national figure. If York's outcomes track closer to state patterns, that $25,000 debt becomes trickier to justify, though still serviceable for motivated graduates who leverage the program's national security focus into federal or defense contracting positions where compensation tends toward the higher end.

The real risk here is that we're working with estimates from just seven comparable programs nationwide. This is a niche field concentrated in specific career pathways, and York's 94% admission rate suggests it may not have the recruitment pipeline or employer connections of more selective intelligence studies programs. The debt is reasonable only if graduates actually achieve those estimated earnings—something you'll want to verify by asking the program directly about placement rates with federal agencies, defense contractors, and where recent graduates actually landed.