ISU’s Career Outcomes Help Make Best Value Colleges List
Career outcomes was a key factor for Iowa State making Princeton Review’s list of 2024 Best Value Colleges. Besides career outcomes, the list takes into account academic rigor and affordability. Iowa State also ranks No. 12 on the review’s list of Top 20 Best Schools for Financial Aid — Public Schools.
Iowa State Grads Outperform the Average
Iowa State University graduates, on average, earn $74,704 10 years after earning their degrees, according to Iowa Board of Regents wages and outcome data. (After five years, the average earnings were $58,695.) Above-average numbers if you look across the nation. According to the Wall Street Journal, research found that graduates from public universities need to earn at least $50,000 a year, on average, in their first decade after college for their degrees to pay off (“The Colleges Where You’re Most Likely to Have a Positive Return on Your Investment,” May 26, 2024).
Study: Future Earnings for ISU Grads Net Positive Return
In a 2022 study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, graduates of Iowa State University earned $155,000 annually a decade after earning their degrees — a number expressed as the net present value; in other words, how much a sum of money in the future is valued today. The earnings-price return for ISU alums was 270% — a ratio expressing the degree to which earnings 10 years after enrollment are above or below the net price, in percent — sometimes used to measure return. Also, 84% of ISU graduates were earning more than peer high-school graduates.