Boston University Health Sciences (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General
- Private nonprofit university
- Boston, MA
- About 155 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Boston University health sciences graduates earn more than graduates of most health sciences programs nationally, $42,894 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,674. One other Massachusetts program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Massachusetts and national columns are the medians across all health sciences bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Boston University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $7,713 more than the Massachusetts median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts health sciences program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Massachusetts medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 77% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $1,429 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $276 a month, or 7.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 38 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $66,624.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
46% of graduates (52 of 112) were working in Massachusetts one year after graduating. Prices in the Boston area are about 8% above the national average, so a $42,894 salary here buys what about $39,619 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to health sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Health Education Specialists
$57,510Median pay in Massachusetts. 2,420 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Community Health Workers
$55,560Median pay in Massachusetts. 2,970 people work in this job in Massachusetts. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Boston University
Health Sciences ranks 17th of 35 bachelor's programs at Boston University by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($93,995), Computer Science ($90,050), and Electrical Engineering ($80,528).
Other health sciences bachelor's programs near Boston
Common questions
The median graduate earns $42,894 one year after graduating and $75,810 five years after. The median across health sciences bachelor's programs in Massachusetts is $31,215.
The median federal loan balance is $26,000, which ranks 2nd lowest of 5 health sciences bachelor's programs in Massachusetts. That works out to about $276 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 61% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less.
Many leave. 46% (52 of 112) were working in Massachusetts one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Massachusetts comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the health sciences program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024