When it comes to states with the highest-earning college graduates, Connecticut is second only to Massachusetts, a new study said.
Higher education research group DegreeChoices examined the latest College Scorecard data on the median earnings of college students working and not enrolled four years after completing their degree in 2022. Data was gathered on more than 5,500 institutions that predominantly offered four-year degrees before being aggregated by state and ranked based on the states with the highest average earnings.
Connecticut fell just short of Massachusetts (annual salary of $59,861) to finish second, with an average salary of $59,355. And while you would think that was because of the presence of Yale University in New Haven, it is not the school with the most well-paid graduates in the state. That would be the American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences/Post University in Waterbury, whose alumni average $91,818, or $30,000 more than the average state-wide salary of college graduates.
The rest of the top 10 are as follows – New Jersey, California, Nevada, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Washington and Delaware.
David Levy, author at DegreeChoices, said of the study: “Unsurprisingly, the Northeast seems to produce more higher-earning graduates than any other region of America. With a number of quality educational opportunities and a high cost of living compared to the South and Midwest, it remains to be seen whether these institutions retain their popularity over the next few years or if college prospects opt for more affordable regions of America.
“With the acceptance rate of elite colleges hitting historic lows and college applications reaching new heights, it will be interesting to see which colleges produce the top earners in the next few years. With only one Ivy League college (Dartmouth) producing the top earners in any state, it will be fascinating to keep an eye out and see if these emerging higher education trends propel any of these historic institutions to the very top of the study.”
