Northern Arizona University Outcomes: $61K Earnings (2026)

How much do Northern Arizona University graduates earn?

The reported median is $60,629 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $65,610 as its benchmark; the difference is -$4,981 per year.

Graduates of Northern Arizona University earn about $4,436 more than expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The model splits that advantage into two parts. The part it attributes to the factors it measures adds $10,264.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $5,828. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $60,629, at the 53rd percentile.

That is $4,981 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth places the university at the 56th percentile for return.

Program choice corresponds with a wide modeled spread in earnings. Downside and upside earnings scenarios range from $48,820 to $83,879 four years after completion; they are modeled from the program mix, not observed graduate groups.

Among higher-earning fields, Computer Science reaches $99,067, Construction Management reaches $99,015, and Electrical Engineering reaches $95,388, each four years after completion. Those field results help explain why the modeled range is wide.

Graduate study affects how to read earnings for some completers. An estimated 31.1% 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 four years after completion, those pursuing further study are outside that earnings view.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $60,629
Rank for difference from expectations: 70th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Northern Arizona University reported median: $60,629
Peer schools comparable schools · $4,981 above Northern Arizona University: $65,610
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $4,436 below Northern Arizona University: $56,193

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 many Northern Arizona University students return and finish their degrees?

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

Completed within six years: 59.0%
Pell recipients completed within six years: 52.0%

Source: Northern Arizona University Common Data Set 2025-26, B4–B11 six-year completion.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $48,820
Median · reported: $60,629
Higher estimate: $83,879

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 Northern Arizona 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.

Northern Arizona University graduates’ reported earnings are $4,436 above that expectation, the 70th 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 Northern Arizona University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Northern Arizona University report the highest earnings?

Program choice matters here: four-year earnings range from technical and health fields at the higher end to a large social-science field at a more moderate level. Computer Science records $99,067 four years after completion across 119 degrees awarded; Azimuth places the field at #119 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Mechanical Engineering posts $91,941 with 123 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national field rank of #122. Nursing combines $84,996 four years after completion with 462 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #143 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

At the more moderate end, Psychology has median earnings of $50,448, 387 degrees awarded, and an Azimuth national field rank of #165. The contrast between these fields makes the program-level earnings picture more varied than a single schoolwide figure.

Northern Arizona University has 45 bachelor’s fields ranked by Azimuth among nonprofit four-year institutions, with strong placements in several distinct areas. Azimuth ranks Science Technologies/Technicians #5 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions; it awarded 64 degrees, and median earnings were $54,507 four years after completion.

Construction Management is ranked #8 by Azimuth among nonprofit four-year institutions, with 67 degrees awarded and $99,015 in median earnings four years after completion. Azimuth ranks Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies #18 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions; 56 degrees were awarded, and completers earned a median $50,501 four years after completion.

These highly ranked fields show different earnings levels, making the individual program page more useful than a schoolwide figure alone.

Further analysis

The earnings scenarios, grounded in the program mix, range from a downside of $48,820 through a typical scenario of $60,629 to an upside of $83,879. Computer Science reaches $99,067 four years after completion, while Psychology, the lowest-earning program among the largest programs, is at $50,448. The spread shows substantial variation by field.

For federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Northern Arizona University has median earnings of $60,629 four years after completion. Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 53rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 6,995 completers.

Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn about $4,436 more than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations is the gap between what completers earn and what the model expects for similar students.

Earnings scenarios from the program mix place typical earnings at the institutional median, with a downside scenario of $48,820 and an upside scenario of $83,879. An estimated 31.1% continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The middle-of-coverage earnings level and higher-than-expected modeled result point in different directions.

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.