Oregon State Career Outcomes: $72K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Oregon State graduates earn?

The reported median is $71,799 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $65,610 as its benchmark; the difference is $6,189 per year.

For Oregon State University, four-year earnings sit above the peer median. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $71,799 four years after completion.

That figure is in the 78th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. This is $6,189 above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $65,610.

Azimuth places the return in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,285 more than expects for similar students.

That measure is in the 64th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $13,822.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $11,537. Above-peer earnings and above-expected earnings point the same way.

Earnings vary widely across Oregon State University’s program mix, rather than clustering around a single outcome. Its earnings scenarios range from $49,915 on the downside to $111,911 on the upside, with $71,799 as the typical scenario.

At the upper end, Computer Science completers earn median $121,405 four years after completion; Construction Engineering reaches $105,964, and Electrical Engineering reaches $105,359. Those program figures show why the modeled range is broad.

An estimated 27.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, so this estimate matters when reading that earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $71,799
Rank for difference from expectations: 64th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Oregon State reported median: $71,799
Peer schools comparable schools · $6,189 below Oregon State: $65,610
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $2,285 below Oregon State: $69,514

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 Oregon State first-year students return?

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

Returned the following fall: 89.1%

Source: Oregon State University Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $49,915
Median · reported: $71,799
Higher estimate: $111,911

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 Oregon State 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.

Oregon State graduates’ reported earnings are $2,285 above that expectation, the 64th 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 Oregon State caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Oregon State report the highest earnings?

The largest program, Computer Science, is also the highest-earning: 843 degrees awarded and median earnings of $121,405 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks it #46 nationally within its field.

Engineering fields dominate the upper end of the earnings range. Mechanical Engineering graduates earn a median of $93,740 from 315 degrees awarded, and Azimuth ranks the program #68 nationally.

Construction Engineering, a smaller program at 75 degrees, posts $105,964 and holds the top national rank in its field. At the more moderate-earning end, Psychology awards 275 degrees and shows median earnings of $57,650; Azimuth ranks it #67 nationally.

Human Development and Family Studies is similar in scale at 205 degrees awarded, with earnings of $53,109 and a national rank of #21. The spread between the highest- and moderate-earning programs is wide, and the institution's overall median sits between them.

Oregon State University has 49 bachelor’s programs with an Azimuth national rank, with 56 fields publishing earnings data. The ranked fields span sharply different degree volumes and earnings, making the intended major especially important here.

Azimuth ranks Construction Engineering #1 nationally within its field; it awarded 75 degrees and its completers had median earnings of $105,964 four years after completion. Computer Science ranks #46 nationally, awarded 843 degrees, and shows $121,405 in median earnings.

Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy ranks #6 nationally, with 114 degrees awarded and median earnings of $52,730 four years after completion.

Further analysis

At Oregon State University, the modeled range is anchored by Computer Science at $121,405 four years after completion and Human Development and Family Studies at $53,109. Program-mix earnings scenarios put the downside at $49,915, the typical outcome at $71,799, and the upside at $111,911.

That span shows that earnings vary materially by field rather than following one campuswide pattern.

Among Oregon State University completers who are working and not enrolled four years after graduation, the median for those who received federal aid is $71,799. That is $6,189 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The median sits in the 78th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from an earnings cohort of 5,641 completers. Graduates earn about $2,285 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result compares observed pay to the model's expectation for similar students. That outcome falls at the 64th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from a downside of $49,915 to an upside of $111,911, with a typical level of $71,799. Based on the program mix, an estimated 27.2% of graduates continue to graduate study.

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.