Aurora University Outcomes: $65K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Aurora University graduates earn?

The reported median is $64,521 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is -$3,729 per year.

Graduates of Aurora University earn about $11,085 more than expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the return in the 73rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Of that gap, the model attributes $2,862 to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market), a share that adds to expected earnings.

It attributes $8,223 to a remainder it does not explain, which adds. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $64,521 four years after completion, in the 64th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and Aurora University is $3,729 below it. Above-expected earnings and a below-peer median make the return picture mixed.

Program choice marks a wide modeled earnings span at Aurora University. The downside earnings scenario is $49,019 and the upside scenario is $79,662; both are estimated from the program mix rather than observed groups.

Four years after completion, median earnings are $90,089 in Computer Science, $84,022 in Nursing, and $77,436 in Finance. Those program results give the modeled range a concrete scale.

Further study affects how the earnings measure should be read. An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Four-year earnings cover federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, so that estimate helps frame who is represented.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $64,521
Rank for difference from expectations: 85th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Aurora University reported median: $64,521
Peer schools comparable schools · $3,729 above Aurora University: $68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $11,085 below Aurora University: $53,436

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $49,019
Median · reported: $64,521
Higher estimate: $79,662

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do Aurora University graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

Aurora University graduates’ reported earnings are $11,085 above that expectation, the 85th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending Aurora University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Aurora University report the highest earnings?

Aurora University shows a clear earnings divide by field, with Nursing near the higher end at median earnings of $84,022 four years after completion. It awarded 158 degrees, and Azimuth ranks it #206 nationally within its field.

Social Work, the largest program, recorded $55,546 and awarded 203 degrees; Azimuth places it at #21 nationally within its field. Criminal Justice falls between those earnings levels, with $60,808 four years after completion across 83 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national field rank of #35.

At the more moderate end, Criminal Justice recorded $60,808 and awarded 83 degrees, while Azimuth ranks it #35 nationally within its field. The higher- and moderate-earning fields show why the academic field matters when reading the university's overall earnings figure.

Business accounts for 21.7% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, and Aurora University has 15 ranked programs. Among the ranked fields, Health/Medical Preparatory Programs has the highest national placement.

Azimuth ranks Health/Medical Preparatory Programs #11 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. It awarded 40 degrees, and its completers had median earnings of $52,987 four years after completion.

Social Work ranks #21 nationally in Azimuth, with 203 degrees awarded and median earnings of $55,546 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks Liberal Arts and General Studies #62 nationally; it awarded 35 degrees and had median earnings of $60,775 four years after completion.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix place the downside at $49,019, the typical scenario at $64,521, and the upside at $79,662. At the upper end, Computer Science earns $90,089 four years after completion; among the largest programs, Teacher Education earns $46,609. The spread shows variation by field rather than observed groups.

Aurora University graduates earn a median of $64,521 four years after completing a degree. The figure comes from a cohort of 1,706 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that median sits at the 64th percentile. Graduates earn about $11,085 more than the model expects for similar students.

That metric is the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. The result falls at the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios derived from the program mix run from $49,019 on the downside to $79,662 on the upside, with $64,521 as the typical outcome. An estimated 27.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. The upside and downside figures show the range across program clusters.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.