Median earnings of $61,015 four years after completion sit above the peer median, but graduates earn about $9,832 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places Gustavus Adolphus College’s return pillar in the 45th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, falls in the 20th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places the four-year earnings figure in the 54th 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) adds $6,026. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,858.
The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915, making the college’s figure $5,100 above it. The peer comparison and model result point in different directions.
Gustavus Adolphus College graduates post a middle-of-the-pack earnings result, with median earnings of $61,015 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places that measure in the 54th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawing on an earnings cohort of 569 completers.
A typical earnings scenario based on the program mix is $61,015, rather than an observed group outcome. An estimated 37.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.
The median earnings figure and modeled graduate-study share describe outcomes across a mix of paths after college.
For federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Gustavus Adolphus College has median earnings of $61,015 four years after completion, in the 54th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $55,915, and the college’s figure is $5,100 above it.
Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, fall in the 20th percentile. Graduates earn about $9,832 less than the model expects for similar students.
The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,026. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,858.
Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,529. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 45th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $47,521 in the downside scenario to $85,287 in the upside scenario. Earnings sit above the peer median, but they fall below the model’s expectation for similar students.
Program results vary widely across the college’s larger and higher-earning fields. Accounting awarded 23 degrees and had median earnings of $95,200 four years after completion, or 1.25x the national median for its field.
Economics awarded 17 degrees, with $91,252 in median earnings and a 1.10x field benchmark ratio. Nursing awarded 29 degrees and posted $86,114 in median earnings, at 0.97x of its field’s national median.
These fields show different earnings levels and different positions against their national field benchmarks.
Earnings can look quite different depending on the field: earnings scenarios run from $47,521 on the downside to $85,287 on the upside. These are scenarios built from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.
Among published program medians four years after completion, Accounting reaches $95,200, Economics reaches $91,252, and Nursing reaches $86,114. The field-level figures help explain the breadth of the modeled range.
Borrowing is above the comparable-college median, while graduates fall short of the model’s earnings expectation. Among completers who borrowed federal loans, median federal student loan debt at Gustavus Adolphus College is $26,774.
At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median is $25,000, placing the college above that figure by $1,774. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $304 a month if repaid over ten years.
Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is another part of the return picture. Graduates earn about $9,832 less than the model expects for similar students.
For first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $22,900. Aid covers about 66% of the published cost for the average aid recipient across all income bands.
The average net price is above the $22,347 peer median by $553. Above-peer debt and above-peer annual cost sit alongside lower-than-expected earnings.