Data story · October 21, 2026 · All data stories
Early earnings are the easiest to measure and the least representative of what happens later. College Scorecard follows students for ten years after they enter, which shows how much the picture changes.
The picture
For each type of college, the bars show the median (across colleges) of the median earnings of students who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured 6, 8 and 10 years after they first enrolled. These students include those who left without finishing.
■ 6 years ■ 8 years ■ 10 years after entering
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (institution-level earnings), colleges with at least 100 students in the earnings sample; medians across colleges computed by MajorPays and not weighted by enrollment.
What stands out
- Public two-year: $33,624 at 6 years, $36,014 at 8, $38,624 at 10 (up 15%; 798 colleges).
- Public four-year: $42,767 at 6 years, $46,365 at 8, $49,748 at 10 (up 16%; 805 colleges).
- Private nonprofit four-year: $45,543 at 6 years, $50,402 at 8, $54,228 at 10 (up 19%; 1,060 colleges).
- Private for-profit four-year: $36,582 at 6 years, $37,937 at 8, $40,092 at 10 (up 10%; 212 colleges).
- Earnings rise by roughly 10% to 19% between years 6 and 10 in each of the four types shown, so a figure measured early understates where students end up for these groups.
- The ordering of the four types is the same at 6, 8 and 10 years.
What this does and does not say
These are group medians for students who started a decade or more ago, in a different job market and at different prices, so they describe the past, not a forecast. They count everyone who enrolled and received aid, not only graduates, and they do not measure what the college added: students differ in many ways before they arrive. For graduates of a specific field at a specific school, the major pages show earnings four years after graduation, which is a different measure.
How we computed this
We take, for each college with at least 100 students in the sample, the published median earnings at 6, 8 and 10 years, then take the median across colleges within each type. Percent increases compare the 10-year and 6-year medians.
MajorPays shares information, not advice. Figures are group statistics from U.S. government sources, not predictions for any person, and MajorPays does not rank schools or places. See our methodology.