Master's · earnings grade

Is a Allied Health degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $165,486 two years after finishing, more than 98% of master's majors. Measured across 34 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

A

The verdict on the money

Yes, on the money — this is one of the best-paying majors at this level in the country.

Median earnings $165,486 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $89,841–$166,905 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$125,966 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 504 34 programmes

Where a Allied Health degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 University of Missouri-Kansas City cost & debt at this university → $178,768 $176,087 $172,214 13
2 South University-Savannah $172,829 $170,546 $189,224 29
3 South University-West Palm Beach $172,829 $170,546 $189,224
4 Nova Southeastern University cost & debt at this university → $166,493 $166,905 $169,931 96
5 Case Western Reserve University cost & debt at this university → $166,462 $165,486 $172,180 79
6 Emory University cost & debt at this university → $172,813 $162,817 $170,655 31
7 Saint Francis University $101,462 $103,821 $107,108 53
8 Drexel University cost & debt at this university → $95,985 $93,520 $96,267 12
9 University of Maryland Baltimore cost & debt at this university → not published $93,076 $96,218 10
10 Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science $91,116 $89,841 $98,906 30
11 West Virginia University cost & debt at this university → $90,980 $88,195 not published 15
12 Howard University $66,889 $70,456 $74,462

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $165,486 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $133,319 is what the typical programme reports, counting a class of twenty the same as a class of two thousand. The weighted figure is higher here, which means the larger programmes in this field are the better-paying ones.

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median master's major in this dataset reports $52,837, so Allied Health sits above the middle by $112,649.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Allied Health at other levels

Scholarships for Allied Health students

Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.

See all Allied Health scholarships →

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

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Allied Health: the questions people ask

How much do Allied Health graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $165,486 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 12 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $137,500.
Is a Allied Health degree worth it?
Yes, on the money — this is one of the best-paying majors at this level in the country. The median graduate earns $125,966 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Allied Health?
Half of US programmes report medians between $89,841 and $166,905. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Allied Health each year?
About 504 students complete a master's in this field each year across 34 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.

Classified by the Department of Education as Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services (CIP 5108). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.