DePauw University Outcomes: $70K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do DePauw University graduates earn?

The reported median is $70,091 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $55,915 as its benchmark; the difference is $14,176 per year.

DePauw University’s four-year earnings sit above the middle value for comparable institutions, giving its return picture a favorable peer comparison. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $70,091 four years after completion, placing the school-level figure in the 76th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915, leaving DePauw University $14,176 above that benchmark. Azimuth places the return in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The above-peer earnings figure and return standing point in the same direction.

Program mix leaves a wide spread between lower- and higher-earning modeled possibilities at DePauw University. The downside earnings scenario is $47,219, whereas the upside scenario is $101,372.

These are earnings scenarios from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates. Published program medians also vary: Computer Science reaches $120,076 four years after completion, Economics reaches $94,761, and Political Science reaches $79,117. Those results give the modeled range practical context.

Graduate-study plans affect how to read four-year earnings: an estimated 36.3% 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 continuing their education are outside that snapshot.

How many DePauw University first-year students return?

First-time, full-time bachelor’s cohorts · CDS 2025-26

Returned the following fall: 89.0%

Source: DePauw University Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $47,219
Median · reported: $70,091
Higher estimate: $101,372

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 DePauw 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 DePauw 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 DePauw University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at DePauw University report the highest earnings?

Computer Science sits at the upper end of the program picture, with median earnings of $120,076 four years after completion and 41 degrees awarded. Economics also occupies the higher-earning end, reporting $94,761 in median earnings from 61 degrees awarded.

The more moderate-earning fields include Political Science, where median earnings were $79,117 across 23 degrees awarded. Communication and Media Studies recorded $69,228 four years after completion and 50 degrees awarded.

The contrast between the higher-earning and moderate-earning fields means the institution-level earnings figure does not describe each field equally, while degree-award counts show the scale of each program separately.

Earnings differ substantially across DePauw University’s largest programs, making the field of study especially relevant here. The largest programs with published earnings include Economics, with 61 degrees awarded and median earnings of $94,761 four years after completion; Communication and Media Studies, with 50 degrees awarded and $69,228; Computer Science, with 41 degrees awarded and $120,076; Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, with 27 degrees awarded and $62,917; and Political Science, with 23 degrees awarded and $79,117.

The range among these large fields means the school-wide earnings figure is only a starting point; program-level results provide the more specific view.

Further analysis

Program mix underlies earnings scenarios: a downside of $47,219, a typical scenario of $70,091, and an upside of $101,372. Computer Science reaches $120,076 four years after completion, whereas Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics is the lowest-earning among the largest programs with published earnings at $62,917. The spread shows how earnings scenarios vary by field.

An earnings median above comparable peers gives DePauw University a favorable early-career pay picture. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $70,091 four years after completion.

That is above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $55,915 by $14,176. Azimuth places this earnings measure in the 76th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, from an earnings cohort of 408 completers.

The typical earnings scenario matches the institutional median, while the downside scenario is $47,219 and the upside scenario is $101,372. An estimated 36.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Above-peer median earnings sit alongside a modeled range that varies substantially by program mix.

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.