Fort Hays State University Outcomes: $56K Earnings (2026)

How much do Fort Hays State University graduates earn?

The reported median is $56,419 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is -$882 per year.

Affordability is the stronger Azimuth at Fort Hays State University, while the return picture stays close to expectation rather than showing a clear earnings edge. Azimuth puts its return pillar in the 47th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $8,142. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,720.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $234. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $56,419 four years after completion, in the 37th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with Fort Hays earnings $882 below it.

The modeled earnings range is wide enough that field choice deserves close attention. Scenarios run from $48,455 on the downside to $70,465 on the upside, with $56,419 as the typical earnings scenario; these are modeled from the program mix, not observed groups.

Among selected programs, median earnings four years after completion are $79,957 for Nursing, $73,380 for Computer Programming, and $72,384 for Political Science. Those program results help explain the spread between the earnings scenarios.

An estimated 26.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, so those continuing their education are outside that earnings measure when it is reported.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $56,419
Rank for difference from expectations: 56th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Fort Hays State University reported median: $56,419
Peer schools comparable schools · $882 above Fort Hays State University: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $422 below Fort Hays State University: $55,997

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: $48,455
Median · reported: $56,419
Higher estimate: $70,465

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 Fort Hays 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.

Fort Hays State University graduates’ reported earnings are $422 above that expectation, the 56th 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 Fort Hays State University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Fort Hays State University report the highest earnings?

At Fort Hays State University, four-year earnings vary sharply by field, so the school-level picture conceals distinct program results. Nursing posted median earnings of $79,957 four years after completion, with 129 degrees awarded.

Computer Programming recorded $73,380 and 148 degrees awarded, placing both among the higher-earning fields shown here. The more moderate-earning fields tell a different part of the story.

Teacher Education had median earnings of $45,190 four years after completion and 178 degrees awarded. Liberal Arts and General Studies recorded $53,176 across 174 degrees awarded.

The contrast between these fields and the higher-earning programs shows why a program-level earnings figure matters when reading the university’s overall return picture.

The leading program earnings span several fields, so the schoolwide figure does not tell the whole story. Nursing awarded 129 degrees and had median earnings of $79,957 four years after completion.

Computer Programming awarded 148 degrees, with median earnings of $73,380 four years after completion. Political Science awarded 17 degrees and showed median earnings of $72,384 four years after completion.

Information Science/Studies awarded 71 degrees and had median earnings of $67,823 at the same point. Finance awarded 233 degrees, with median earnings of $64,524 four years after completion. Field choice coincides with a wide spread in these published medians.

Further analysis

Field choice is associated with a broad modeled earnings range at Fort Hays State University. Program-mix earnings scenarios place the downside at $48,455, the typical case at $56,419, and the upside at $70,465.

Nursing reaches $79,957 four years after completion, while Teacher Education is the lowest-earning among the largest programs at $45,190. Those figures show that modeled earnings differ substantially across fields.

The median for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled is $56,419 four years after completing a degree at Fort Hays State University. That is $882 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the figure in the 37th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 1,773 completers. Graduates earn about $422 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

This measure tracks the distance between actual pay and the model's expectation for similar students. The result falls at the 56th percentile.

Earnings scenarios derived from the program mix range from $48,455 on the downside to $70,465 on the upside, with $56,419 as the typical outcome. An estimated 26.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the 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.