Return is the weakest pillar for SUNY Buffalo State University, at the 20th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion are $53,203, which is at the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
That figure is $4,098 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $6,706 less than the model expects for similar students.
That gap places the university at the 29th 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 $922. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,628.
Graduate earnings at SUNY Buffalo State University sit low in the national distribution. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $53,203 four years after completion, based on an earnings cohort of 2,426.
Azimuth places that median in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $6,706 less than the model expects for similar students.
The typical earnings scenario matches the observed median; the downside scenario is $46,437, and the upside scenario is $64,420. An estimated 27.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.
The low national earnings placement and the model comparison point in the same direction, though the scenarios show variation across the program mix.
At SUNY Buffalo State University, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $53,203 four years after completion, placing those earnings in the 27th percentile. For comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median, the middle value for that group, is $57,301, leaving the university $4,098 below it.
Graduates earn about $6,706 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 29th percentile.
The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $922. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,628.
Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,006. Azimuth ranks the university #1,174 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix put the downside at $46,437 and the upside at $64,420. Business Administration and Management is the largest program, with 147 degrees awarded and median earnings of $57,114 four years after completion.
Azimuth ranks it #279 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Teacher Education had 128 degrees awarded, median earnings of $51,209, and an Azimuth national rank of #77 among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.
Criminal Justice recorded 117 degrees awarded and $56,034 in median earnings, with Azimuth ranking it #77 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. At the higher end, Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians had 12 degrees awarded and median earnings of $98,018.
These program figures show uneven outcomes across the university’s larger and higher-earning fields.
Earnings vary widely by field, so the school-wide picture does not capture every possible outcome. The downside earnings scenario is $46,437 and the upside scenario is $64,420, both four years after completion.
For borrowers who complete at SUNY Buffalo State University, debt sits close to the level at comparable public universities, even as earnings fall short of the model’s expectation. Median federal student loan debt is $21,028, which is below the $21,229 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $201.
That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years. Graduates earn about $6,706 less than the model expects for similar students.
Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate parent-borrower population, have median debt of $12,951. Cost provides a second part of the picture: average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $11,346.
Aid covers about 53% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Lower debt and a lower net price help on cost, but the earnings comparison remains a counterweight.