As far as jobs that will allow you to jump straight from an MPH to a six-figure salary...well, I don't really know of any. I guess you could go into health care consulting and make decent money, though not even close to 100k to start, and the ceiling is often lower than it is in health administration.

There's a lot of money in health care and hospital administration. It's off the radar screen of most people on this board, but 100k should be a no-brainer as long as you're willing to prove yourself over the course of several years to begin your career.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9934794)

Your salary will go up steadily after your first year or so with an NGO, but no--you won't be making $100,000 until after you've spent 4-6 years moving through the middle management ranks (and that's if you're unusually ambitious).

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9935524)

Ok I wasnt looking to do any of that, but I was atleast hoping for some higher compensation out of a pretty professional masters degree. I might as well stick with my BA.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9935644)

I have a plain old MA, and I started toward the high end of the starting salary range. How much do you consider reasonable for somebody with a master's degree and little/no prior work experience?

I think people--especially on boards like these--tend to overestimate just how much money you are likely to make in a non-law, non-private equity/i-bank profession coming right out of school, especially in today's job market.

Accounting is a perfect example. I have a cousin--same age as I am--who earned a degree from one of the top accounting programs in the country and then went to work for one of the top firms (what do they call them? Big-8 firms or something like that? Anyway...). Everybody assumed he was making 60-75k to start. The reality was the he was making $45,000 per year. He ended up quitting after a year and moving to a botique firm where he was paid a few thousand more to do a similar job with less travel.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9935678)

Of course this board has minimal concept of reality.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9935817)

What about a PhD in Health Policy/Clinical Sciences? Is there more pay and mobility with a PhD in this field?

God, why are the only options; soul sucking I-banking and big law? Even then I would be making 60k+ and working 60-80+ hours? Doesn't that just add to about the same as making 25 bucks an hour? Are the bonuses that great that it keeps people into this line of work?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9936644)

Read: top execs (VP level and up) at NGOs and even hospitals make 250k-1m/yr depending on the organization. Happy? You just have to work your way up to that level and, as radiohead is trying to explain, PROVE YOURSELF in the field before your employer will start making that kind of investment. The vast majority of banking analysts and biglaw lawyers either can't stomach their professions long enough to make it to that level, or they max out at some middling rank and are too burned out to reach any higher.

Frankly, it doesn't sound like you have the work ethic necessary to make it in anything you'd be doing with an MPH.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9936886)

2. If your main concern is pay, then why are you even considering an MPH? No one goes into an MPH planning to make a lot of money. The opportunities to make a comfortable salary are available after you've earned your dues, but most people studying public health are going into the field because they're passionate about it. Your way of thinking is sort of like getting a degree in education and expecting to earn a superintendent's salary immediately without any experience.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9937821)

Again, it depends on work experience, but a PhD was going to be my next suggestion to you (although it's really not necessary if you just want to do health care administration). I'm actually doing both--working my way up the NGO ladder and doing my PhD at the same time (my boss was great in orchestrating a deal by which I keep my full-time position and advancement opportunities instead of teaching/TA'ing, and I still am able to take courses and finish the degree within 4 years). This way, I'll continue to move up the hierarchy for the next few years while arming myself with a credential that will help boost me into what I assume you might see as a more reasonable salary range.

Also, a caveat: if you go the MPH route, you really should't get the degree somewhere that costs $40,000 per year. These organizations aren't like big law firms or investment banks in that thay are far less concerned with where your degree came from than they are with what you bring to the table. Most MPH programs have strong pipelines into the field, so you aren't at a gigantic disadvantage if you go to a cheap state school rather than shell out unnecessary thousands of dollars to a name institution.

Finally, I'm just curious as to what you expected entry level pay to be in healthcare or at an NGO? Again, echoing radiohead's sentiment, it's a little silly to imagine that you're entitled to a six-figure salary, just because you have a master's degree and a high opinion of your own self-worth. That attitude definitely won't make for productive job interviews. If you have a master's, are good at what you do, and show commitment to the organization and to learning the field, then you should expect to be making the 50-55k range within two years. But the operative clause here is, "show commitment to the organization and learning the field." A sense of entitlement or an unwillingness to be on the bottom rung for awhile won't sit well with most folks and will result in your not lasting very long in the field at all, let alone making "good money."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9937900)

It also helps that most people willing to work for NGOs or health care organizations can stomach concept of living in locales other than New York.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9937906)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9937943)

Hows about we all forgo college altogether?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=830788&forum_id=1#9940424)