Is 4k not high for a starting salary?
When there is nothing but academic qualifications to be used as a yardstick by companies to hire an individual, is a private degree deemed worthy of a $4k starting salary? You do know that this is a risk that they take right.
Even if you were outstanding in your interview getting all the right answers, how much of a risk as a HR would you be willing to pay above the median wage for this person?
Too often we live in a society where to be well regarded, ample chest-thumping and proclamations of higher than expected salaries are the norm.
Maybe you can share what industry you are in that 4K starting salary is peanuts?