Berea College Career Outcomes: $43K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Berea College graduates earn?

The reported median is $42,924 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $55,915 as its benchmark; the difference is -$12,991 per year.

Return is the weakest for Berea College, and the earnings figures show why. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $42,924.

That median sits at the 7th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $55,915, so the university's figure is $12,991 below that benchmark.

Graduates earn about $7,963 less than expects for similar students. That gap is at the 25th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $1,457. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,506. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,328.

The earnings scenarios show a wide spread: from $35,478 on the downside to $76,518 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

The highest-earning program is Computer and Information Sciences, where graduates earn $82,491 four years after completion. Engineering Technologies/Technicians follows at $55,830, and Communication and Media Studies at $41,723.

An estimated 28.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, those continuing their education are outside that snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $42,924
Rank for difference from expectations: 25th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Berea College reported median: $42,924
Peer schools comparable schools · $12,991 above Berea College: $55,915
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $7,963 above Berea College: $50,887

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: $35,478
Median · reported: $42,924
Higher estimate: $76,518

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 Berea College 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.

Berea College graduates’ reported earnings are $7,963 below that expectation, the 25th 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 Berea College caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Berea College report the highest earnings?

The earnings spread across Berea College's largest programs is wide, and the highest-earning field is also the one awarding the most degrees. Computer and Information Sciences leads with 22 degrees awarded and a median of $82,491 four years after completion.

In contrast, Biology awards nearly as many degrees at 21 but its completers earn $32,729 four years after completion, less than half the median of the top-earning program. Engineering Technologies/Technicians sits between the two, with 17 degrees awarded and median earnings of $55,830.

At the more moderate end, Psychology and Communication and Media Studies each award 17 and 15 degrees, with completers earning $40,768 and $41,723 four years after completion respectively. Earnings vary widely by program at Berea College.

Business accounts for 8.2% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Computer & Information Sciences and Health Professions each at 7.5%. The largest program with published earnings is Computer and Information Sciences, at 22 degrees a year.

Its completers earn a median of $82,491 four years after completion, the highest figure among the school's programs. Biology is nearly as large, at 21 degrees, but its median earnings are $32,729.

Engineering Technologies/Technicians awards 17 degrees and shows median earnings of $55,830. Psychology and Communication and Media Studies round out the largest programs with published earnings, with 17 and 15 degrees awarded and medians of $40,768 and $41,723.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a downside of $35,478, a typical outcome of $42,924, and an upside of $76,518. The spread reflects the variation by field.

Computer and Information Sciences sits at the high end at $82,491, while Biology, the lowest-earning among the largest programs with published earnings, stands at $32,729.

Four years after completing a degree at Berea College, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $42,924. That figure sits at the 7th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 347 completers.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show the range: a downside scenario of $35,478, a typical scenario of $42,924, and an upside scenario of $76,518. The spread between the downside and upside scenarios is wide.

An estimated 28.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. The four-year earnings figures reflect the observed cohort of federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

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.