New data shows Christopher Newport’s median alumni earnings exceed the median salaries of the graduates of other peer universities in all 17 fields studied.
In fields ranging from computer science to the visual and performing arts, a typical CNU alumnus earns more, in some cases much more, than a typical graduate of a peer institution.
For example, the analysis indicates CNU’s computer science graduates earn median salaries of $101,900 compared to the median salary of $90,300 earned by graduates of comparable universities. CNU’s information science graduates earn about $34,000 more than the median. Business administration and music graduates both earn $26,000 more than the median.
The difference isn’t as large across all 17 career fields analyzed, but in sum it is convincing evidence of the value of a CNU education and degree. The federal government collected the data, which reflects the earnings of students who received federal financial aid and graduated in 2018 or 2019, the most recent period available. HEA Group, a higher education research firm, analyzed it, and Economics professor Dr. Rik Chakraborti extracted the CNU numbers.
While earnings potential is only one factor in assessing the value of a college degree, surveys indicate it is increasingly important to parents as they weigh the return on their tuition-and-fees investment.
“We know Captains for Life receive a superb education embedded in the liberal arts, and this data indicates they are prospering in their professional lives as well. It is heartening to see,” said President William G. Kelly.
Chakraborti said the data was harvested from 2,788 institutions. Earnings were observed four years after graduation in 2022 and 2023 and adjusted to 2024 dollar values.
“This confirms what we suspected,” he said. “Our graduates excel in their fields and that includes financially. And I have to proudly point out that’s true for our economics graduates: On an annual basis, our median student earned about $7,500 more than their counterparts from comparable colleges.”
“The good news goes beyond this specific classification. My calculations show that our graduates’ strong earnings hold up when we compare the same fields of study across a broader range of universities. CNU’s median earnings exceed the peer group median in 14 of 17 fields using a comparison pool of 224 other non-military regional public universities, and 15 of 17 using a pool of 602 other non-military four-year public institutions nationwide.”
Here in round numbers are the 17 fields as established by the HEA Group analysis and the disparity between CNU’s graduates and those of 36 other non-military public institutions in the same Carnegie 2025 ‘Special Focus: Arts and Sciences’ category as CNU:
Source: HEA Dataset; Calculations by Dr. Rik Chakraborti. Figures show median annual earnings four years after graduation for federal-aid recipients who graduated in 2018 or 2019 and were working and not enrolled, expressed in 2024 dollars. For each field, the peer median is the middle value among other institutions’ reported medians. The number of reporting peers varies by field.