Florida Gulf Coast University Public Health (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Public Health
- Public university
- Fort Myers, FL
- About 43 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Florida Gulf Coast University public health graduates earn about what public health graduates earn nationally, $35,724 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $19,295 in federal loans, less than at 82% of public health programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying public health degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all public health bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Florida Gulf Coast University graduates earn about the national figure and about $2,281 more than the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida public health program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 62% 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 $3,652 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 $205 a month, or 6.9% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (60 of 66) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Cape Coral area are about 2% above the national average, so a $35,724 salary here buys what about $34,904 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 public health, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Medical and Health Services Managers
$120,360Median pay in Florida. 42,700 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Compliance Officers
$74,920Median pay in Florida. 29,680 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$94,940Median pay in Florida. 6,490 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
$88,820Median pay in Florida. 6,760 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 19% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Florida Gulf Coast University
Public Health ranks 23rd of 34 bachelor's programs at Florida Gulf Coast University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,964), Civil Engineering ($64,411), and Biomedical Engineering ($62,972).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $35,724 one year after graduating and $57,743 five years after. The median across public health bachelor's programs in Florida is $35,093.
The median federal loan balance is $19,295, which ranks 2nd lowest of 8 public health bachelor's programs in Florida. That works out to about $205 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 63%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Florida programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 91% (60 of 66) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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 public health 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