Career outcomes brief

Otterbein University Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated October 1, 2026

How much do Otterbein University graduates earn?

The reported median is $58,068 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is -$10,182 per year.

Otterbein University has a mixed return picture, with median earnings of $58,068 four years after completion, in the 44th percentile. Graduates earn about $3,910 less than expects for similar students.

Azimuth locates this measure in the 39th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places the return in the 43rd 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 $2,753. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,663.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; the university’s median is $10,182 below it.

Program mix marks a wide span in earnings scenarios. The downside scenario is $41,557 and the upside scenario is $79,859; these are earnings scenarios from the program mix, not observed graduate groups.

Among program completers, four-year median earnings are $80,188 in Nursing, $70,328 in Business Administration and Management, and $62,364 in Health Sciences. The contrast between these program figures gives context for the modeled range.

An estimated 30.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Since four-year earnings count completers who are working and not enrolled, that estimate sets a boundary on what the earnings figure covers.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $58,068
Rank for difference from expectations: 39th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Otterbein University reported median: $58,068
Peer schools comparable schools · $10,182 above Otterbein University: $68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $3,910 above Otterbein University: $61,978

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: $41,557
Median · reported: $58,068
Higher estimate: $79,859

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 Otterbein 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.

Otterbein University graduates’ reported earnings are $3,910 below that expectation, the 39th 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 Otterbein University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Otterbein University report the highest earnings?

Otterbein University’s larger programs span higher and more moderate median earnings four years after completion. Nursing recorded $80,188 in median earnings, with 59 degrees awarded in one academic year.

Business Administration and Management followed at $70,328, alongside 26 degrees awarded. Health Sciences posted $62,364 four years after completion and awarded 26 degrees.

At a more moderate earnings level, Teacher Education reported $47,383 with 28 degrees awarded. The larger programs therefore include several fields with higher earnings alongside a teacher education field with more moderate earnings.

Health Professions makes up 16.9% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, and the largest fields span a wide range of earnings four years after completion. Nursing awarded 59 degrees and had median earnings of $80,188.

Teacher Education awarded 28 degrees, with median earnings of $47,383. Business Administration and Management awarded 26 degrees and showed median earnings of $70,328.

Health Sciences awarded 26 degrees and had median earnings of $62,364. Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication awarded 25 degrees, with median earnings of $58,065.

The differences across these large fields make the chosen program central to the earnings picture.

Highest reported four-year program earnings

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: $80,188
Business Administration, Management and Operations: $70,328
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General: $62,364
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication: $58,065
Communication and Media Studies: $51,006
Psychology, General: $49,090
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods: $47,383
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness: $46,521

Explore Otterbein University program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix put the downside at $41,557, the typical outcome at $58,068, and the upside at $79,859. Nursing reaches $80,188 four years after completion; Teacher Education, the lowest-earning among the largest programs, is at $47,383. The spread shows how earnings vary by field.

Otterbein University graduates report median earnings of $58,068 four years after completion, a schoolwide figure for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places those earnings in the 44th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, using an earnings cohort of 618 completers.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix range from $41,557 in the downside scenario to $79,859 in the upside scenario, with $58,068 in the typical scenario. Graduates earn about $3,910 less than the model expects for similar students.

An estimated 30.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The scenarios and graduate-study estimate describe different modeled paths, while the schoolwide earnings figure sits below the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions.

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.