Which Minnesota public health program has the lowest debt?

Saint Cloud State reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,850, with first-year pay of $32,830.

How much do public health graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 7 Minnesota public health bachelor's programs is $38,475 in the first year after graduating and $55,488 five years after.

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

7 Minnesota programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Minnesota public health bachelor's program pays its graduates $38,475 in their first year, $960 more than the national median. Winona State reports the highest first-year pay ($46,250), and Saint Cloud State the lowest median debt ($17,850).

Median first-year pay$38,475National $37,516

Median pay after 5 years$55,488National $56,608

Median federal debt$27,000National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings70%National 63%

All 7 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	Winona StateWinona · public	$46,250	$48,643	$20,966	45%
2	Walden UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$44,285	$55,488	$45,793	103%
3	St Catherine UniversitySaint Paul · private nonprofit	$42,407	$59,427	$29,815	70%
4	University of St Thomas (Minnesota)Saint Paul · private nonprofit	$38,475	$67,515	$27,000	70%
5	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth · public	$36,520	Not reported	$26,000	71%
6	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$35,433	Not reported	$40,809	115%
7	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$32,830	$48,320	$17,850	54%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Winona State$46,250
Walden University$44,285
St Catherine University$42,407
University of St Thomas (Minnesota)$38,475
University of Minnesota-Duluth$36,520

Lowest median debt

Saint Cloud State$17,850
Winona State$20,966
University of Minnesota-Duluth$26,000
University of St Thomas (Minnesota)$27,000
St Catherine University$29,815

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

$122,700

Median pay in Minnesota. 11,350 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $80,080Top 10%: $196,830

Compliance Officers

$85,920

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,140 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $55,830Top 10%: $134,040

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$89,950

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,760 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $65,140Top 10%: $141,070

Occupational Health and Safety Specialists

$96,990

Median pay in Minnesota. 2,460 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $67,990Top 10%: $129,810

Common questions

Winona State in Winona reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,250. Its median federal debt is $20,966.

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 Minnesota 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