Career outcomes brief

Purdue University Fort Wayne Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated September 30, 2026

How much do Purdue University Fort Wayne graduates earn?

The reported median is $56,455 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is -$846 per year.

Affordability, not return, is the strongest for Purdue University Fort Wayne. The return pillar sits in the 39th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completion, completers earn a median of $56,455, in the 37th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $57,301 among comparable institutions (same type and size) by $846.

Graduates earn about $976 less than expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result in the 51st percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,768.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,744. The STEM component within the measured factors adds $3,149.

The earnings scenarios point to a wide spread: $42,762 on the downside against $80,286 on the upside. Program choice matters a great deal within that range.

At the upper end, Computer Science graduates earn $101,396 four years after completion, from 39 degrees awarded a year. Mechanical Engineering follows at $85,075, and Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians at $81,259.

An estimated 29.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings figures capture only those working and not enrolled, the median earnings understate the eventual earnings of the sizable share of completers who pursue advanced degrees.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $56,455
Rank for difference from expectations: 51st percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Purdue University Fort Wayne reported median: $56,455
Peer schools comparable schools · $846 above Purdue University Fort Wayne: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $976 above Purdue University Fort Wayne: $57,431

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 Purdue University Fort Wayne first-year students return?

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

Returned the following fall: 64.0%

Source: Purdue University Fort Wayne Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $42,762
Median · reported: $56,455
Higher estimate: $80,286

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 Purdue University Fort Wayne 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.

Purdue University Fort Wayne graduates’ reported earnings are $976 below that expectation, the 51st 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 Purdue University Fort Wayne caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Purdue University Fort Wayne report the highest earnings?

Program choice at Purdue University Fort Wayne shows a wide earnings spread four years after completion, with technical fields reporting far higher medians than education and general studies. Computer Science leads among reported programs at $101,396, followed by Mechanical Engineering at $85,075 and Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians at $81,259.

Business/Commerce, the largest field, awarded 131 degrees and reaches $63,627. Teacher Education awarded 108 degrees at a median of $45,525.

Liberal Arts and General Studies awarded 75 degrees and shows a median of $44,299. That wide gap between the technical medians and the moderate figures in the largest programs is the central pattern in the university's program data.

Purdue University Fort Wayne publishes earnings data for 21 bachelor's programs, and the mix of fields includes both higher- and lower-earning options. The largest family, Business, accounts for 19.7% of degrees awarded, followed by Education at 12.7% and Liberal Arts & General Studies at 8.2%.

The single largest program, Business/Commerce, awarded 131 degrees and shows a median of $63,627 four years after completion. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where completers earn a median of $101,396 four years after finishing, with 39 degrees awarded.

Mechanical Engineering follows at $85,075 with 15 degrees awarded. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians rounds out the top earners at $81,259, with 26 degrees awarded.

An estimated 29.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Highest reported four-year program earnings

Computer Science: $101,396
Mechanical Engineering: $85,075
Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians: $81,259
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management: $73,576
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician: $72,564
Computer and Information Sciences, General: $69,013
Business/Commerce, General: $63,627
Business Administration, Management and Operations: $60,816

Explore Purdue University Fort Wayne program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

The earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, show a downside of $42,762, a typical outcome of $56,455, and an upside of $80,286. That spread is visible in the named programs: Computer Science reaches $101,396 four years after completion, while Liberal Arts and General Studies, one of the largest fields, sits at $44,299.

Federally aided graduates of Purdue University Fort Wayne who are working and not enrolled four years after completion earn a median of $56,455. That is $846 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that median falls at the 37th percentile. The cohort includes 1,833 completers.

Graduates earn about $976 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. That earnings gap is at the 51st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $42,762 on the downside to $80,286 on the upside, with a typical outcome at the same level as the observed median. An estimated 29.5% 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.