PlainCollege

Program ranking · CIP 51.22 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Public Health

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Public Health (CIP 51.22) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$101,771
Highest public health earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$52,438
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $52,438 median earnings for Public Health bachelor's (CIP 51.22) completers. Duke University leads at $101,771.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$101,771
#1 - Duke University
$52,438
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
498
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 public health programs by median completer earnings

Public Health bachelor's (CIP 51.22) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Public-health medians track government, nonprofit, and hospital-system roles - debt still matters even when public-sector pay scales vary by state.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 Duke University NC $101,771 $12,500 41
2 University of Southern California CA $89,522 $15,000 128
3 George Washington University DC $87,217 $23,250 116
4 Oakland University MI $85,266 $31,000 25
5 Elon University NC $81,153 $20,500 48
6 Johns Hopkins University MD $79,113 $12,750 143
7 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $78,928 $16,787 101
8 University of Georgia GA $78,085 $20,788 152
9 California Baptist University CA $77,329 $33,375 32
10 University of California-Berkeley CA $76,572 $11,708 210
11 Franklin and Marshall College PA $75,867 $20,875 38
12 Tufts University MA $75,448 $18,250 71
13 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $74,633 $24,000 394
14 Brown University RI $74,496 $11,760 74
15 Chapman University CA $72,529 $23,125 116
16 University of Maryland-College Park MD $72,328 $21,500 458
17 New York University NY $70,840 $19,000 43
18 American University DC $70,831 $23,250 76
19 University of Delaware DE $70,793 $24,336 175
20 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $70,369 $16,260 112
21 National University CA $70,340 $34,156 59
22 Syracuse University NY $69,776 $27,000 64
23 University of Florida FL $68,605 $15,454 250
24 Indiana University-Bloomington IN $68,038 $19,500 174
25 University of Arkansas AR $67,891 $23,000 121
26 University of Central Oklahoma OK $67,452 $18,000 69
27 University of Arizona AZ $66,937 $21,000 218
28 Purdue University-Main Campus IN $66,892 $21,000 78
29 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $66,732 $16,500 249
30 The College of New Jersey NJ $66,722 $21,500 37
31 University of California-San Diego CA $66,110 $15,000 345
32 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $65,978 $19,728 150
33 California State University-San Bernardino CA $65,961 - 42
34 University of Massachusetts-Lowell MA $65,429 $24,982 67
35 George Mason University VA $65,358 $20,500 174
36 West Virginia University WV $64,888 $22,045 51
37 University at Albany NY $64,456 $20,750 56
38 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $64,275 $21,500 57
39 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $64,275 $21,500 40
40 University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC $63,965 $27,000 58
41 CUNY Hunter College NY $63,884 - 27
42 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $63,854 $21,746 272
43 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $63,666 $15,500 297
44 University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA $63,666 $15,500 135
45 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus WA $63,666 $15,500 38
46 Saint Louis University MO $63,652 $26,000 35
47 Xavier University of Louisiana LA $63,204 $27,000 59
48 Walden University MN $63,061 $35,750 27
49 Oregon State University OR $62,633 $21,500 118
50 Central Washington University WA $62,435 $20,326 33
51 Georgia College & State University GA $62,386 $25,649 81
52 Northern Arizona University AZ $61,757 $20,151 134
53 Kennesaw State University GA $61,665 $25,250 40
54 The University of Texas at Austin TX $61,390 $20,500 305
55 St Catherine University MN $61,169 $27,000 48
56 San Diego State University CA $60,904 $15,000 162
57 University of North Carolina Wilmington NC $60,722 $21,458 120
58 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania PA $60,530 $26,000 76
59 University of California-Irvine CA $60,430 $17,148 473
60 Mercer University GA $60,401 $27,000 53
61 Truman State University MO $60,157 $23,031 46
62 University of Minnesota-Duluth MN $59,639 $24,986 41
63 East Carolina University NC $59,566 $25,000 285
64 American Public University System WV $59,240 $30,640 90
65 St Petersburg College FL $59,200 $27,026 107
66 University of Kentucky KY $59,163 $23,250 104
67 Portland State University OR $58,860 $21,500 133
68 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC $58,715 $21,500 438
69 Hofstra University NY $58,610 $26,000 57
70 University of Illinois Chicago IL $58,603 $20,500 45
71 Southern New Hampshire University NH $58,520 $18,750 172
72 Florida Gulf Coast University FL $58,119 $17,500 53
73 Indiana University-Indianapolis IN $57,800 $20,112 99
74 Temple University PA $57,499 $27,000 163
75 Miami University-Oxford OH $56,955 $21,880 102
76 CUNY Lehman College NY $56,615 $13,936 52
77 Monroe University NY $56,526 $27,000 193
78 California State University-Los Angeles CA $56,466 $12,457 174
79 University of California-Merced CA $56,393 $15,250 141
80 University of Hawaii at Manoa HI $56,371 $19,205 54
81 University of Louisville KY $56,057 $18,336 83
82 California State University-Northridge CA $55,989 $13,744 312
83 Montclair State University NJ $55,681 $25,000 81
84 College of Charleston SC $55,660 $25,146 120
85 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse WI $55,418 $26,801 68
86 Wayne State University MI $55,302 $18,750 258
87 University of Utah UT $55,200 $14,689 25
88 Kent State University at Kent OH $54,544 $26,000 166
89 Texas State University TX $54,229 $23,375 34
90 University of Nebraska at Omaha NE $54,228 $19,100 40
91 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX $54,188 $24,000 219
92 Southern Connecticut State University CT $53,997 $21,500 40
93 University of South Florida FL $53,560 $19,250 202
94 Eastern Florida State College FL $53,408 $21,379 44
95 University of Alaska Anchorage AK $53,245 $18,093 44
96 University of North Carolina at Greensboro NC $53,124 $24,966 98
97 CUNY York College NY $52,679 $12,800 46
98 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus OK $52,517 $19,700 30
99 Western Oregon University OR $52,452 $21,278 41
100 University of Houston-Downtown TX $52,438 $18,950 72

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Public Health (CIP 51.22) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Public Health (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Public Health (CIP 51.22) bachelor's programs - community health and epidemiology-adjacent majors are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.