Which Illinois public health program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,684, with first-year pay of $39,956.

How much do public health graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 6 Illinois public health bachelor's programs is $40,260 in the first year after graduating and $71,261 five years after.

How many public health bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

6 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Public Health (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Public Health

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois public health bachelor's program pays its graduates $40,260 in their first year, $2,745 more than the national median. Illinois State reports the highest first-year pay ($59,207), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($14,684).

Median first-year pay$40,260National $37,516

Median pay after 5 years$71,261National $56,608

Median federal debt$22,987National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings53%National 63%

All 6 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Illinois StateNormal · public	$59,207	$83,534	$22,250	38%
2	UICChicago · public	$41,585	Not reported	$22,987	55%
3	UIUCChampaign · public	$40,564	$71,261	$20,678	51%
4	Northwestern UniversityEvanston · private nonprofit	$39,956	Not reported	$14,684	37%
5	Governors StateUniversity Park · public	$36,537	$47,418	$23,000	63%
6	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$35,023	Not reported	$29,223	83%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois public health program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$117,850

Median pay in Illinois. 22,460 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $75,920Top 10%: $227,180

Compliance Officers

$80,550

Median pay in Illinois. 10,650 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,040Top 10%: $132,290

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$82,330

Median pay in Illinois. 4,700 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $59,550Top 10%: $143,890

Occupational Health and Safety Specialists

$98,270

Median pay in Illinois. 2,900 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $61,160Top 10%: $137,000

Common questions

Illinois State in Normal reports the highest median first-year pay, $59,207. Its median federal debt is $22,250.

Public Health (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked186 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the public health bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024