Colleges in Connecticut With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Graduate earnings are bunched together in Connecticut. The 20 four-year colleges we rank range only from $57,759 to $112,971, just $55,212 apart.
The median college sits at $68,309, which is $8,906 (15%) above the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (6) have a median of $61,237 and private nonprofit colleges (13) a median of $72,845, and the typical net price across the list is $28,619.
Yale University ranks first at $112,971, ahead of Fairfield University ($91,378) and Quinnipiac University ($84,363).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Connecticut
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Connecticut has 20
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 20 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Yale University New Haven, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $112,971 | $23,777 | $12,975 | 96% | 6,758 |
| 2 | Fairfield University Fairfield, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $91,378 | $48,095 | $26,000 | 84% | 5,373 |
| 3 | Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $84,363 | $40,675 | $26,000 | 77% | 6,531 |
| 4 | Trinity College Hartford, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $83,645 | $34,832 | $23,000 | 83% | 2,146 |
| 5 | Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $79,431 | $46,174 | $25,000 | 74% | 7,087 |
| 6 | University of Connecticut Storrs, CT Public · 4-year | $78,925 | $25,097 | $21,500 | 84% | 19,835 |
| 7 | University of Saint Joseph West Hartford, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $73,035 | $27,989 | $27,000 | 66% | 838 |
| 8 | Goodwin University East Hartford, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,845 | $29,249 | $33,500 | 58% | 2,693 |
| 9 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,119 | $30,177 | $17,000 | 92% | 3,067 |
| 10 | University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,078 | $30,282 | $27,000 | 56% | 4,146 |
| 11 | Connecticut College New London, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $67,540 | $36,175 | $23,500 | 83% | 1,937 |
| 12 | Central Connecticut State University New Britain, CT Public · 4-year | $67,245 | $16,857 | $22,300 | 49% | 7,822 |
| 13 | University of New Haven West Haven, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $65,164 | $34,192 | $27,000 | 61% | 4,841 |
| 14 | Albertus Magnus College New Haven, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,088 | $34,028 | $30,964 | 49% | 991 |
| 15 | Charter Oak State College New Britain, CT Public · 4-year | $62,128 | $15,815 | $18,683 | — | 1,821 |
| 16 | Post University Waterbury, CT For-profit · 4-year | $60,571 | $21,634 | $30,157 | 29% | 13,603 |
| 17 | Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT Public · 4-year | $60,346 | $17,604 | $24,147 | 51% | 3,511 |
| 18 | University of Bridgeport Bridgeport, CT Private nonprofit · 4-year | $60,311 | $27,807 | $25,750 | 45% | 1,534 |
| 19 | Southern Connecticut State University New Haven, CT Public · 4-year | $59,787 | $20,857 | $22,250 | 49% | 6,295 |
| 20 | Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, CT Public · 4-year | $57,759 | $21,067 | $24,250 | 58% | 3,418 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Connecticut
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in New York
124 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Massachusetts
61 schools
Highest graduate earnings in California
108 schools
All 27 colleges in Connecticut See the national version of this ranking