Gustavus Adolphus College Outcomes: $61K Earnings (2026)

How much do Gustavus Adolphus College graduates earn?

The reported median is $61,015 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $55,915 as its benchmark; the difference is $5,100 per year.

Median earnings of $61,015 four years after completion sit above the peer median, but graduates earn about $9,832 less than expects for similar students. Azimuth places Gustavus Adolphus College’s return 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.

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.

An estimated 37.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. The earnings measure four years after completion covers only completers who are working and not enrolled, so continued study places some graduates outside that measure.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $61,015
Rank for difference from expectations: 20th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Gustavus Adolphus College reported median: $61,015
Peer schools comparable schools · $5,100 below Gustavus Adolphus College: $55,915
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $9,832 above Gustavus Adolphus College: $70,847

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: $47,521
Median · reported: $61,015
Higher estimate: $85,287

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 Gustavus Adolphus College 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.

Gustavus Adolphus College graduates’ reported earnings are $9,832 below that expectation, the 20th 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 Gustavus Adolphus College caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Gustavus Adolphus College report the highest earnings?

Gustavus Adolphus College has a clear split between its higher-earning business-oriented programs and larger programs with more moderate earnings four years after completion. Accounting records median earnings of $95,200 and 23 degrees awarded.

Economics follows with $91,252 in median earnings and 17 degrees awarded. Nursing shows median earnings of $86,114 four years after completion, alongside 29 degrees awarded.

By comparison, Psychology, the largest program by awards, reports $53,277 and 66 degrees awarded. The contrast makes program choice especially relevant here: the higher-earning fields have smaller award counts, while the largest field sits at a more moderate earnings level.

Program size and earnings differ across the college's largest fields. For each field, the award total is from one academic year, and earnings are medians four years after completion.

Psychology had 66 degrees awarded and median earnings of $53,277. Biology had 52 degrees awarded and median earnings of $54,202.

Business/Commerce had 43 degrees awarded and median earnings of $79,260. Kinesiology and Physical Education had 39 degrees awarded and median earnings of $57,870.

Communication and Media Studies had 36 degrees awarded and median earnings of $69,423.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix put the downside at $47,521, the typical outcome at $61,015, and the upside at $85,287. At four years after completion, Accounting reaches $95,200, while Psychology, the lowest-earning program among the largest fields, is at $53,277. Those endpoints show how earnings vary by field.

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.

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.