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Career outcomes brief

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# Skidmore College Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated September 30, 2026

[Overview](/school/skidmore-college/)[Cost & aid](/school/skidmore-college/cost/)Outcomes[Admissions](/school/skidmore-college/admissions/)[Majors](/school/skidmore-college/majors/)[Similar schools](/school/skidmore-college/similar/)

**On this page**+

## How much do Skidmore College graduates earn?

The reported median is $61,281 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is \-$6,969 per year.

At Skidmore College, the four-year earnings picture falls below both the peer median and the model’s expectation. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $61,281 four years after completion, placing earnings in the 55th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, and the college’s figure is $6,969 below it. Graduates earn about $19,432 less than the model expects for similar students.

That earnings-beyond-expectations result is in the 4th 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 $2,928.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $22,360. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer comparison, model result, and return standing point in the same direction.

Program choice corresponds with a broad range of modeled earnings outcomes at Skidmore College. These earnings scenarios run from $47,250 on the downside to $85,884 on the upside, rather than describing observed groups of graduates.

The typical earnings scenario is $61,281. At the program level, median earnings four years after completion are $104,708 in Computer and Information Sciences, $93,229 in Business/Commerce, and $69,091 in Political Science. Those figures help show why the modeled range is wide.

An estimated 38.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. The four-year earnings measure covers federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, so graduates who remain enrolled are outside that earnings snapshot; the reported median has that boundary.

**Median earnings · four years after completion**
$61,281

**Rank for difference from expectations**
4th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

**Skidmore College reported median**
$61,281

**Peer schools comparable schools · $6,969 above Skidmore College**
$68,250

**Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $19,432 above Skidmore College**
$80,713

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](/analysis/a-value-added-approach-to-college-outcomes/).

## How many Skidmore College first-year students return?

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

**Returned the following fall**
94.1%

Source: Skidmore College Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

## How could earnings differ from the median?

The planning scenarios range from $47,250 to $85,884, around the reported median of $61,281. Compare the lower scenario with [Skidmore College borrowing and monthly payments](/school/skidmore-college/cost/) to see how a smaller income could change your plan.

Modeled from the school’s program mix; not salary percentiles or a forecast for one graduate.

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

**Lower estimate**
$47,250

**Median · reported**
$61,281

**Higher estimate**
$85,884

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](/analysis/median-roi-hides-a-harsh-reality/) explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. [Read about the move to four-year earnings](/analysis/college-scorecard-2026-4-year-vs-10-year-earnings-2-2/).

## Do Skidmore College 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](/methodology/#value-added).

Skidmore College graduates’ reported earnings are $19,432 below that expectation, the 4th 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 Skidmore College caused a student to earn. [Read how expected earnings are estimated](/analysis/a-value-added-approach-to-college-outcomes/).

What explains value-added earnings?

**Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.**
+$2,928

**Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.**
\-$22,360

**Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.**
\-$19,432

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

## Which fields at Skidmore College report the highest earnings?

Program choice makes a marked difference in the earnings picture at Skidmore College. Computer and Information Sciences had median earnings of $104,708 four years after completion, with 19 degrees awarded in one academic year.

Business/Commerce recorded $93,229 and accounted for 87 degrees awarded, making it the larger of the higher-earning fields here. The pattern is more moderate in other prominent fields.

Political Science posted $69,091 with 42 degrees awarded, whereas Psychology recorded $47,282 across 78 degrees awarded. These program results show why the school-level earnings figure can look different depending on the field a student chooses.

Social Sciences accounts for 18.4% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family, while Business represents 12.8%. Program earnings vary considerably across the college’s larger fields four years after completion.

Business/Commerce awarded 87 degrees and had median earnings of $93,229 four years after completion. Psychology awarded 78 degrees, with median earnings of $47,282.

Fine and Studio Arts awarded 42 degrees and posted $53,602, while Political Science awarded 42 degrees and posted $69,091. English Language and Literature awarded 33 degrees, with median earnings of $51,029.

Highest reported four-year program earnings

**Computer and Information Sciences, General**
$104,708

**Business/Commerce, General**
$93,229

**Political Science and Government**
$69,091

**Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences**
$67,645

**Social Work**
$61,428

**Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics**
$56,595

**Fine and Studio Arts**
$53,602

**Natural Resources Conservation and Research**
$51,512

[Explore Skidmore College program cohorts and field ranks](/school/skidmore-college/majors/#largest-cohorts) for more context.

## Further analysis

At Skidmore College, the earnings picture changes sharply with field choice. Earnings scenarios grounded in its program mix put the downside at $47,250, the typical scenario at $61,281, and the upside at $85,884.

Computer and Information Sciences reaches $104,708 four years after completion, while Psychology, the lowest-earning among the largest programs, is at $47,282. The range shows variation by field rather than observed groups.

Skidmore College presents a mixed earnings picture, with its overall median near the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $61,281 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that measure in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 386 completers. The program-mix model sets a typical earnings scenario at $61,281, with a downside scenario of $47,250 and an upside scenario of $85,884.

An estimated 38.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. The middle-of-the-pack overall earnings measure sits beside a wide range of earnings scenarios.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), 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](/about/).