Career outcomes brief

Bethel University (IN) Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated September 27, 2026

How much do Bethel University (IN) graduates earn?

The reported median is $53,289 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $55,915 as its benchmark; the difference is -$2,626 per year.

Affordability is the strongest pillar at Bethel University, yet its return measures give a mixed reading. Graduates earn about $182 more than expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $1,717.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $1,899. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $53,289, in the 27th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915, leaving the university $2,626 below it. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 36th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings near the model’s expectation but below the peer median leave the return picture mixed.

Earnings vary widely across the program mix at Bethel University, from a downside scenario of $41,191 to an upside scenario of $75,261. These are scenarios rather than observed groups of graduates.

Among programs with published medians four years after completion, Nursing reaches $73,384, Business/Commerce reaches $68,689, and Business Administration and Management reaches $58,731. The program figures span much of the modeled range, so the field selected matters to the earnings picture.

An estimated 24.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. Because the earnings measure covers completers who are working and not enrolled, those pursuing further study sit outside that snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $53,289
Rank for difference from expectations: 55th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Bethel University (IN) reported median: $53,289
Peer schools comparable schools · $2,626 above Bethel University (IN): $55,915
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $182 below Bethel University (IN): $53,107

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

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $41,191
Median · reported: $53,289
Higher estimate: $75,261

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 Bethel University (IN) 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.

Bethel University (IN) graduates’ reported earnings are $182 above that expectation, the 55th 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 Bethel University (IN) caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Bethel University (IN) report the highest earnings?

Nursing sits at the higher end of Bethel University’s program earnings, with median earnings of $73,384 four years after completion across 45 degrees awarded. Business/Commerce also falls in the higher-earning group, posting $68,689 with 8 degrees awarded.

More moderate results appear in Business Administration and Management, at $58,731 across 30 degrees awarded, and Subject-Area Teacher Education, at $53,186 with 11 degrees awarded. The spread across these fields means the earnings picture depends substantially on the field a student chooses.

Health Professions accounts for 21.2% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, giving the program mix a clear health-oriented center. Published earnings data cover 10 bachelor’s fields, and the largest degree-producing fields show a broad range of outcomes four years after completion.

Nursing awarded 45 degrees and had median earnings of $73,384 four years after completion. Business Administration and Management awarded 30 degrees, with median earnings of $58,731.

Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries awarded 19 degrees and had median earnings of $37,149. Kinesiology and Physical Education awarded 17 degrees, with median earnings of $48,243.

These large fields show that earnings vary substantially across the degrees Bethel awards.

The chart shows up to eight fields with the highest reported median earnings four years after completion. Compare the field names as well as the amounts: the school-wide median can conceal substantial differences between programs.

Highest reported four-year program earnings

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: $73,384
Business/Commerce, General: $68,689
Business Administration, Management and Operations: $58,731
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas: $53,186
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General: $53,152
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness: $48,243
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities: $45,366
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods: $45,222

Explore Bethel University (IN) program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

Program-mix scenarios put the downside at $41,191, the typical case at $53,289, and the upside at $75,261. Nursing reaches $73,384 four years after completion, whereas Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries, the lowest-earning among the largest programs, is at $37,149. The spread shows modeled earnings vary by field.

Bethel University’s four-year earnings are close to the model’s expectation, though their standing among nonprofit four-year institutions is modest. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $53,289 four years after completion; the earnings cohort includes 477 completers.

Azimuth places that median in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $182 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Earnings beyond expectations is the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. Earnings scenarios from the program mix run from $41,191 in the downside scenario to $75,261 in the upside scenario; the typical scenario matches the institutional median.

An estimated 24.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. Earnings are near the model’s expectation, but the broader earnings percentile is modest.

Data & methodology

A missing figure does not mean zero. 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.