Denison University Outcomes: $63K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Denison University graduates earn?

The reported median is $62,838 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is -$5,412 per year.

Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled at Denison University have median earnings of $62,838, placing that figure in the 60th percentile. Azimuth places the university’s return in the 73rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250. Denison’s median is $5,412 below that benchmark.

Its earnings percentile is solid, though the comparison with similar institutions points to a lower median.

Denison’s modeled earnings picture has a wide range across its program mix. The downside earnings scenario is $49,092, the typical scenario is $62,838, and the upside scenario is $88,397.

These are scenarios rather than observed graduate groups. Among published program results, Economics has median earnings of $97,394 four years after completion, compared with $66,730 in Communication and Media Studies and $65,429 in Education. Those figures give the modeled range a concrete program-level context.

An estimated 37.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, so graduates continuing their education are outside that earnings snapshot.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $49,092
Median · reported: $62,838
Higher estimate: $88,397

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 Denison 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.

That comparison is not reported for Denison University. 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 Denison University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Denison University report the highest earnings?

Economics gives Denison University its higher-earning program result, with median earnings of $97,394 four years after completion across 77 degrees awarded. Communication and Media Studies also sits at the higher end, reporting $66,730 across 64 degrees awarded.

The more moderate results include Education, at $65,429 with 23 degrees awarded, and Biology, at $55,654 with 46 degrees awarded. The contrast between these fields shows that the school-level earnings picture depends substantially on the field a student chooses.

Denison University awards 21.8% of its bachelor’s degrees in Social Sciences, and published earnings data cover 6 bachelor’s fields. The larger fields show a wide range of median earnings four years after completion, so field-level results provide more detail than the schoolwide figure alone.

Economics awarded 77 degrees, with median earnings of $97,394 four years after completion. Communication and Media Studies awarded 64 degrees and had median earnings of $66,730.

Biology awarded 46 degrees and had median earnings of $55,654. Education awarded 23 degrees and had median earnings of $65,429.

Sociology and Anthropology awarded 17 degrees and had median earnings of $49,035.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix place the downside at $49,092, the typical scenario at $62,838, and the upside at $88,397. At the high end, Economics reaches $97,394 four years after completion, while Sociology and Anthropology, the lowest-earning large program, is at $49,035. The spread shows how earnings scenarios vary by field.

At Denison University, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $62,838 four years after completion. This institutional median describes the middle of the reported earnings cohort rather than a guarantee for every completer.

Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 60th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 373 completers. Earnings scenarios tied to the program mix put typical earnings at the same level as the observed median, with a downside scenario of $49,092 and an upside scenario of $88,397.

These scenarios describe modeled patterns, not observed groups of graduates. An estimated 37.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

The observed median and typical scenario align, while the downside and upside scenarios show how much the program mix can matter.

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.