Flagship University Median Earnings and Annual Cost [2023, Data Table]

Here is a data table I made to show median earnings for students going to public flagship universities in each state.

There are several key assumptions to keep in mind:

• The median earnings come from someone who attended 10 years ago, regardless of completion status.That means alumni in general; not all are graduates.
  
• The flagship university doesn't always have the highest median earnings for the state.
• I made a call if there were several high performing campuses as to which counts as the flagship.
  
• Annual cost can include tuition and fees. State contributions to annual cost vary.
• This data was pulled from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard in 2023. 

 

The University FOR Washington has my heart <3

Data Table

State Flagship University Median Earnings (k) Annual Cost (k) AL University of Alabama $56 $22 AK University of Alaska - Anchorage $50 $13 AZ University of Arizona $60 $16 AR University of Arkansas $54 $15 CA University of California - Berkeley $88 $15 CO University of Colorado - Boulder $65 $22 CT University of Connecticut $76 $22 DE University of Delaware $72 $18 FL University of Florida $69 $4 GA University of Georgia $63 $15 HI University of Hawaii - Manoa $56 $13 ID University of Idaho $51 $12 IL University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign $77 $15 IN Indiana University - Bloomington $61 $14 IA University of Iowa $63 $19 KS University of Kansas $59 $19 KY University of Kentucky $56 $18 LA Louisiana State University $59 $18 ME University of Maine $49 $17 MD University of Maryland - College Park $77 $18 MA University of Massachusetts - Amherst $66 $16 MI University of Michigan - Ann Arbor $80 $17 MN University of Minnesota - Twin Cities $65 $17 MS University of Mississippi $51 $12 MO University of Missouri - Columbia $61 $18 MT University of Montana $44 $14 NE University of Nebraska - Lincoln $56 $17 NV University of Nevada - Reno $59 $15 NH University of New Hampshire $65 $22 NJ Rutgers University - New Brunswick $70 $15 NM University of New Mexico $43 $15 NY University at Buffalo $66 $19 NC University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill $68 $13 ND University of North Dakota $61 $17 OH Ohio State University $59 $19 OK University of Oklahoma $60 $20 OR University of Oregon $57 $19 PA Pennsylvania State University $61 $28 RI University of Rhode Island $67 $20 SC University of South Carolina $58 $21 SD University of South Dakota $49 $19 TN University of Tennessee $57 $19 TX University of Texas $73 $18 UT University of Utah $64 $13 VT University of Vermont $63 $19 VA University of Virginia $81 $21 WA University of Washington $74 $11 WV West Virginia University $55 $13 WI University of Wisconsin $71 $17 WY University of Wyoming $53 $8

 

Median earnings of public flagship university attendees ($k), 2023.

Discussion

More research is needed XD. I plan to visualize these data on a map of the U.S.

Of course, the public flagship universities can be an excellent opportunity for the students who attend; however, access and affordability of higher education in the United States remains a key issue which drives economic inequality. Increasing access to these institutions alone won't erase the disparities across class in our country, but higher education access can be a good proxy for economic opportunity. We need to consider that higher education is a public good.

More reading:
"Most of Nation's Top Public Universities Aren't Affordable for Low-Income Students" – Alexis Marshall, NPR, 2019
"IHEP Analysis Finds the Majority of State Flagship Universities Fall Short of Their Promise of An Affordable Education for Students" – Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2019

"State University No More: Out-of-State Enrollment and the Growing Exclusion of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students at Public Flagship Universities" – Ozan Jaquett, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, 2018