New Study Unveils Earning Power of College Grads - Surprising Results for RI Schools

New Study Unveils Earning Power of College Grads - Surprising Results for RI Schools

A new study breaks down the earning power of college grads by institution and there are some surprising results. The study also unveils that some who do not attend four-year colleges do significantly better than their college grad peers.

Most students who attend college earn more ten years down the road than those who do not. But at roughly one-third of institutions, a majority of students end up earning less than those with a high school diploma, according to a new analysis from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) released today.

Locally, the data shows some surprising results and maybe the "Ivies" are not the money makers that they appear to be.

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“College typically pays off, but the return on investment varies by credential, program of study, and institution,” CEW Director Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale said. “It’s important to inform people about the risk of taking out loans but not graduating, which could leave them without the increased earnings that would help them repay those loans.”

An average of 60% of college students across institutions earn more than a high school graduate after 10 years, the analysis finds. However, at 1,233 postsecondary institutions (30% of all colleges), more than half of students 10 years after enrollment earn less than a high school graduate. CEW’s previous research suggests that these low earnings may be related to low college graduation rates and disparities in earnings by gender and by race and ethnicity.

The study looks at the earning power from 10-years after graduation to 40-years after graduation.

Over 20 years in the workforce, here is what the grads of the Rhode Island colleges and universities earned on average (net present value), according to Georgetown's study ("The net present value is how much a sum of money in the future is valued today. This metric includes costs, future earnings, and the length of time it would take to invest and earn a specific amount of money over a fixed horizon," according to the study).

Bryant University $834,000

Brown University $755,000

University of Rhode Island $657,000

Providence College $633,000

Salve Regina University $602,000

Roger Williams University $599,000

Rhode Island College $510,000

RI School of Design $456,000

Community College of RI $455,000

Johnson & Wales $357,000

 

Tops in America

The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis took the top spot, with a net economic gain of $1.315,000 20 years after enrollment. The Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ranked second and third, offering $1,217,000 and $1,242,000 in net economic gain after 20 years.

While marquee names like Stanford University ranked 8th overall, the highest-ranked Ivy League school was the University of Pennsylvania which ranked 11th and Princeton ranked 12th, Columbia 30th, Yale ranks 34th, Harvard 38th, Dartmouth 47th, Cornell 51st, and Brown ranks last in the Ivy at 102 overall.

 

Best Investment

According to the report, the type of institution also makes a difference in overall return on investment.

Public colleges, where tuition is lower and students accumulate less debt, lead to better returns than private colleges at the 10-year horizon. Similarly, at the 40-year horizon, four-year public institutions lead to higher returns ($1.03 million) than four-year private nonprofit institutions ($984,000). Public institutions primarily granting associate’s degrees have a long-term return of $856,000 while the return at private nonprofit institutions at the same degree level is $780,000.

Visit cew.georgetown.edu/ROI2022 to view a sortable table of 4,500 colleges and universities ranked by ROI metrics including tuition, median student debt and earnings, and the share of students with earnings greater than high school graduates.