College Azimuth

Career outcomes brief

Merrimack College Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated

How much do Merrimack College graduates earn?

The reported median is $65,506 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is -$2,744 per year.

Merrimack College presents a split return picture: its earnings measure and model comparison point in different directions. Azimuth places the return in the 49th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $11,522 less than expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 16th 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 $1,413. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,935.

Median earnings four years after completion are $65,506, in the 67th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; Merrimack College is $2,744 below.

The return picture is mixed: earnings sit near the peer median but below the model’s expectation.

Programs span a wide range of earnings, so the schoolwide figure does not describe every field. Earnings scenarios run from $53,816 on the downside to $81,592 on the upside; these are scenarios based on program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

Among the higher-earning fields, median earnings four years after completion are $114,115 in Computer Science, $90,714 in Civil Engineering, and $85,545 in Mechanical Engineering. Those field-level results help explain the breadth of the modeled range.

Graduate study should be kept in view when reading the four-year earnings figure. An estimated 24.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

The earnings measure covers completers who are working and not enrolled, placing those continuing study outside that snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion
$65,506
Rank for difference from expectations
16th percentile
Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks
Merrimack College reported median
$65,506
Peer schools comparable schools · $2,744 above Merrimack College
$68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $11,522 above Merrimack College
$77,028

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?

The planning scenarios range from $53,816 to $81,592, around the reported median of $65,506. Compare the lower scenario with Merrimack College borrowing and monthly payments to see how a smaller income could change your plan.

Modeled from the school’s program mix; not salary percentiles or a forecast for one graduate.

Earnings four years after completion
Planning rangeReported median
Lower estimate
$53,816
Median · reported
$65,506
Higher estimate
$81,592

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 Merrimack 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.

Merrimack College graduates’ reported earnings are $11,522 below that expectation, the 16th 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 Merrimack College caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$1,413
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$12,935
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$11,522

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Which fields at Merrimack College report the highest earnings?

At Merrimack College, the higher-earning end of the program list sits in technical fields, while larger programs span more moderate earnings four years after completion. Computer Science recorded median earnings of $114,115 and 19 degrees awarded.

Civil Engineering followed with $90,714 in median earnings and 23 degrees awarded. Business Administration and Management paired $73,877 in median earnings with 78 degrees awarded, making it a larger program with earnings below the technical fields named above.

Human Development and Family Studies recorded $53,734 and 114 degrees awarded. The contrast between these fields shows that the earnings picture differs substantially by program at the college.

Business accounts for 28.2% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family at Merrimack College. Among the largest individual fields, the earnings figures below are median earnings four years after completion.

Human Development and Family Studies awarded 114 degrees and shows $53,734 in median earnings. Business Administration and Management awarded 78 degrees, with median earnings of $73,877.

Communication and Media Studies awarded 67 degrees and had median earnings of $64,345. Criminal Justice awarded 66 degrees, with $69,615 in median earnings.

Health Sciences awarded 61 degrees and had median earnings of $68,209. These large fields span a wide range of reported earnings.

Highest reported four-year program earnings
Computer Science
$114,115
Civil Engineering
$90,714
Mechanical Engineering
$85,545
Biology, General
$79,581
Business Administration, Management and Operations
$73,877
Criminal Justice and Corrections
$69,615
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General
$68,209
Communication and Media Studies
$64,345

Explore Merrimack College program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

Field choice shapes the modeled earnings range at Merrimack College. Program-mix earnings scenarios place the downside at $53,816, the typical outcome at $65,506, and the upside at $81,592.

Computer Science sits at the high end with $114,115 four years after completion; among the largest programs, Human Development and Family Studies is lowest at $53,734. The spread shows how much modeled earnings vary by field.

The median earnings for Merrimack College graduates four years after completion stand at $65,506. That figure comes from a cohort of 1,091 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

It sits at the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is below the $68,250 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size), by $2,744.

Graduates earn about $11,522 less than the model expects for similar students. The gap falls at the 16th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $53,816 on the downside to $81,592 on the upside, with a typical scenario of $65,506. An estimated 24.5% 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.