Graduates earn median 4-year earnings of $148,182, placing Samuel Merritt University in the 100.0 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs well above the $57,042 median at comparable institutions (same control and size band), a gap that reflects the institution's deep concentration in health professions — fields where licensure requirements and strong employer demand translate into reliable early-career pay. Azimuth ranks Samuel Merritt University #14 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Samuel Merritt University also sits in the 99.4 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a historical 10-year Scorecard measure not yet updated to the four-year horizon. The program lineup at Samuel Merritt University is tightly focused on Health fields, which shapes both the earnings floor and the ceiling for most graduates. Nursing is the institution's highest aggregate-return program by combined cohort scale and earnings, anchoring the school's overall return profile. Nursing is the largest program, graduating 508 students and delivering median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions per the program-ranking methodology, at 1.7x the national benchmark for the field. Because Samuel Merritt University trains graduates almost exclusively for credentialed health careers in CA, outcomes are relatively consistent across the program portfolio — students who complete a degree here enter labor markets where demand is durable and starting salaries are well above the broad four-year average.
Graduates earn median 4-year earnings of $148,182, placing Samuel Merritt University in the 100.0 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs well above the $57,042 median at comparable institutions (same control and size band), a gap that reflects the institution's deep concentration in health professions — fields where licensure requirements and strong employer demand translate into reliable early-career pay. Azimuth ranks Samuel Merritt University #14 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Samuel Merritt University also sits in the 99.4 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a historical 10-year Scorecard measure not yet updated to the four-year horizon. The program lineup at Samuel Merritt University is tightly focused on Health fields, which shapes both the earnings floor and the ceiling for most graduates. Nursing is the institution's highest aggregate-return program by combined cohort scale and earnings, anchoring the school's overall return profile. Nursing is the largest program, graduating 508 students and delivering median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions per the program-ranking methodology, at 1.7x the national benchmark for the field. Because Samuel Merritt University trains graduates almost exclusively for credentialed health careers in CA, outcomes are relatively consistent across the program portfolio — students who complete a degree here enter labor markets where demand is durable and starting salaries are well above the broad four-year average.
Latest FE earnings field: 10-year
How graduate earnings grow across the currently available FE horizons.
Financial justification for the investment.
Excellent affordability. Median debt of $20,825 is well under annual earnings, enabling comfortable repayment.
Graduates earn median 4-year earnings of $148,182, placing Samuel Merritt University in the 100.0 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs well above the $57,042 median at comparable institutions (same control and size band), a gap that reflects the institution's deep concentration in health professions — fields where licensure requirements and strong employer demand translate into reliable early-career pay. Azimuth ranks Samuel Merritt University #14 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Samuel Merritt University also sits in the 99.4 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a historical 10-year Scorecard measure not yet updated to the four-year horizon. The program lineup at Samuel Merritt University is tightly focused on Health fields, which shapes both the earnings floor and the ceiling for most graduates. Nursing is the institution's highest aggregate-return program by combined cohort scale and earnings, anchoring the school's overall return profile. Nursing is the largest program, graduating 508 students and delivering median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions per the program-ranking methodology, at 1.7x the national benchmark for the field. Because Samuel Merritt University trains graduates almost exclusively for credentialed health careers in CA, outcomes are relatively consistent across the program portfolio — students who complete a degree here enter labor markets where demand is durable and starting salaries are well above the broad four-year average.
Program mix and student pathways explain much of the earnings story.
Samuel Merritt University is a specialized health sciences university in Oakland, California, with a program mix concentrated almost entirely in clinical and professional health fields. As a focused institution, it graduates students across 1 programs, with 1 meeting Azimuth's ranking threshold — a portfolio shaped by deep investment in nursing, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, and related health disciplines rather than breadth across academic families. The dominant program family is Health, which defines the institution's academic identity and labor-market positioning. Nursing stands out as the program combining the largest graduate cohort with strong earnings, making it the primary driver of the institution's overall return profile. Nursing is the most popular program, graduating 508 students and delivering median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment; Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. The institution's highest-earning program, Nursing, program graduates 508 students with median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. These figures reflect the strong and relatively consistent wage floors that characterize licensed clinical professions, where credentialing requirements compress the lower end of the earnings distribution. The health-sciences concentration means that most Samuel Merritt University graduates enter local-labor markets — hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and community health systems — rather than high-mobility national career tracks in technology or finance. That pattern is a feature of the program mix, not a limitation: licensed health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area enter one of the highest-demand and highest-compensating regional labor markets in the country for clinical roles. For context on how health-sciences fields align with national workforce demand, see supply and demand for college graduates.
Lower quartile, 10-year field
Upper quartile, 10-year field
Graduates earn median 4-year earnings of $148,182, placing Samuel Merritt University in the 100.0 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs well above the $57,042 median at comparable institutions (same control and size band), a gap that reflects the institution's deep concentration in health professions — fields where licensure requirements and strong employer demand translate into reliable early-career pay. Azimuth ranks Samuel Merritt University #14 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Samuel Merritt University also sits in the 99.4 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions — a historical 10-year Scorecard measure not yet updated to the four-year horizon. The program lineup at Samuel Merritt University is tightly focused on Health fields, which shapes both the earnings floor and the ceiling for most graduates. Nursing is the institution's highest aggregate-return program by combined cohort scale and earnings, anchoring the school's overall return profile. Nursing is the largest program, graduating 508 students and delivering median earnings of $148,193 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks Nursing #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions per the program-ranking methodology, at 1.7x the national benchmark for the field. Because Samuel Merritt University trains graduates almost exclusively for credentialed health careers in CA, outcomes are relatively consistent across the program portfolio — students who complete a degree here enter labor markets where demand is durable and starting salaries are well above the broad four-year average.
