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.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$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.

Duke University

$101,771
University of Southern C…

$89,522
George Washington Univer…

$87,217
Oakland University

$85,266
Elon University

$81,153
Johns Hopkins University

$79,113
University of Michigan-A…

$78,928
University of Georgia

$78,085
California Baptist Unive…

$77,329
University of California…

$76,572
Franklin and Marshall Co…

$75,867
Tufts University

$75,448
Rutgers University-New B…

$74,633
Brown University

$74,496
Chapman University

$72,529

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.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
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.