Clayton State University Outcomes: $54K Earnings (2026)

How much do Clayton State University graduates earn?

The reported median is $54,430 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is -$2,871 per year.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $54,430, at the 31st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is $2,871 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return at the 23rd percentile. Graduates earn about $5,772 less than expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 33rd percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,081. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $9,853.

The modeled range is wide enough that school-wide earnings do not describe every field. Program-mix earnings scenarios run from $39,707 on the downside to $78,690 on the upside, rather than tracking observed groups of graduates.

At four years after completion, median earnings are $96,160 in Nursing, $94,876 in Computer Science, and $63,862 in Accounting. Those field-level results help explain the breadth of the earnings scenarios.

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, continued study is part of the context for reading the reported median.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $54,430
Rank for difference from expectations: 33rd percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Clayton State University reported median: $54,430
Peer schools comparable schools · $2,871 above Clayton State University: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $5,772 above Clayton State University: $60,202

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: $39,707
Median · reported: $54,430
Higher estimate: $78,690

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 Clayton State 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.

Clayton State University graduates’ reported earnings are $5,772 below that expectation, the 33rd 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 Clayton State University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Clayton State University report the highest earnings?

Business Administration and Management sits at the higher-earning end of the ranked programs. Four years after completion, its median earnings are $58,740 across 130 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks it #287 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology records $42,032 and 110 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #17 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Health Sciences is another more moderate-earning field, at $40,140 with 104 degrees awarded and an Azimuth rank of #75 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. The ranking and earnings measures point in different directions across these fields.

Clayton State University has 12 ranked bachelor’s fields, and their earnings readings differ considerably. Azimuth ranks Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology #17 nationally within its field among nonprofit four-year institutions; 110 degrees were awarded, with median earnings of $42,032 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks Dental Support Services and Allied Professions #30 nationally within its field among nonprofit four-year institutions; 28 degrees were awarded and median earnings were $63,402 four years after completion. Film/Video and Photographic Arts is ranked #70 nationally within its field by Azimuth, with 27 degrees awarded and median earnings of $36,510 four years after completion.

The strongest national rank does not coincide with the highest earnings shown among these fields.

Further analysis

Field choice shapes the earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix: the downside is $39,707, the typical scenario is $54,430, and the upside is $78,690. Nursing reaches $96,160 four years after completion, while Health Sciences, the lowest-earning among the largest programs, is at $40,140. The spread shows substantial variation by field.

Graduate earnings need context beyond the school-wide median. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Clayton State University has median earnings of $54,430 four years after completion.

Azimuth puts that median in the 31st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 1,411 completers. A typical earnings scenario based on the program mix is $54,430, rather than an observed group result.

An estimated 28.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, offer another lens.

Graduates earn about $5,772 less than the model expects for similar students. The median and the model comparison point in the same direction.

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.