Colleges in Kansas With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Graduate earnings are bunched together in Kansas. The 21 four-year colleges we rank range only from $38,730 to $69,904, just $31,174 apart.
The median college sits at $56,857, which is $2,546 (4%) below the national median of $59,403. Private nonprofit colleges (13) have a median of $56,857 and public colleges (8) a median of $57,025, and the typical net price across the list is $22,519.
Baker University ranks first at $69,904, ahead of University of Kansas ($69,680) and MidAmerica Nazarene University ($67,555).
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 Kansas
- 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; Kansas has 21
- 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 21 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Baker University Baldwin City, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,904 | $25,301 | $25,000 | 59% | 1,100 |
| 2 | University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Public · 4-year | $69,680 | $18,059 | $21,000 | 69% | 21,217 |
| 3 | MidAmerica Nazarene University Olathe, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $67,555 | $32,165 | $15,000 | 49% | 983 |
| 4 | University of Saint Mary Leavenworth, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $67,112 | $22,519 | $22,018 | 46% | 925 |
| 5 | Kansas State University Manhattan, KS Public · 4-year | $64,711 | $19,406 | $21,250 | 71% | 15,142 |
| 6 | Southwestern College (KS) Winfield, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,687 | $29,824 | $25,000 | 35% | 924 |
| 7 | Ottawa University-Ottawa Ottawa, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $62,228 | $27,963 | $21,500 | 28% | 870 |
| 8 | Wichita State University Wichita, KS Public · 4-year | $59,707 | $13,194 | $20,500 | 51% | 10,780 |
| 9 | Friends University Wichita, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $57,698 | $27,715 | $25,000 | 52% | 1,048 |
| 10 | Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS Public · 4-year | $57,275 | $15,784 | $18,969 | 57% | 4,210 |
| 11 | Newman University Wichita, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,857 | $19,971 | $20,801 | 53% | 851 |
| 12 | Washburn University Topeka, KS Public · 4-year | $56,774 | $15,280 | $18,127 | 53% | 4,562 |
| 13 | Fort Hays State University Hays, KS Public · 4-year | $56,419 | $12,569 | $21,000 | 48% | 9,733 |
| 14 | Benedictine College Atchison, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $55,405 | $27,891 | $24,599 | 63% | 2,272 |
| 15 | Bethel College-North Newton North Newton, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $55,094 | $32,917 | $24,000 | 42% | 504 |
| 16 | Emporia State University Emporia, KS Public · 4-year | $53,751 | $16,261 | $19,500 | 55% | 2,239 |
| 17 | Kansas Wesleyan University Salina, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $53,289 | $22,671 | $23,250 | 43% | 956 |
| 18 | McPherson College McPherson, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,934 | $26,441 | $25,242 | 44% | 872 |
| 19 | Bethany College (KS) Lindsborg, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $45,971 | $27,686 | $23,250 | 32% | 569 |
| 20 | Sterling College (KS) Sterling, KS Private nonprofit · 4-year | $44,980 | $22,371 | $24,625 | 34% | 538 |
| 21 | Haskell Indian Nations University Lawrence, KS Public · 4-year | $38,730 | $3,134 | — | 31% | 978 |
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 Kansas
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Missouri
38 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Oklahoma
26 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Colorado
21 schools
All 38 colleges in Kansas See the national version of this ranking