Colleges in Minnesota With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 36 four-year colleges we rank in Minnesota run from $84,333 at the top to $41,825 at the bottom, a spread of $42,508.
The median college sits at $61,902, which is $2,499 (4%) above the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (12) have a median of $60,420 and private nonprofit colleges (22) a median of $62,456, and the typical net price across the list is $20,446.
Capella University ranks first at $84,333, ahead of Walden University ($83,334) and University of St Thomas (MN) ($82,136).
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 Minnesota
- 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; Minnesota has 36
- 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 36 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Capella University Minneapolis, MN For-profit · 4-year | $84,333 | $17,956 | $14,968 | 27% | 18,364 |
| 2 | Walden University Minneapolis, MN For-profit · 4-year | $83,334 | $33,817 | $20,834 | — | 9,136 |
| 3 | University of St Thomas (MN) Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $82,136 | $29,155 | $23,250 | 76% | 6,245 |
| 4 | The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $75,595 | $27,846 | $20,000 | 66% | 1,765 |
| 5 | Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,829 | $25,672 | $27,000 | 76% | 1,395 |
| 6 | Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,502 | $11,704 | $21,500 | 67% | 1,073 |
| 7 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 4-year | $71,941 | $16,778 | $19,500 | 85% | 31,855 |
| 8 | Bethel University (MN) Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $70,633 | $28,556 | $21,500 | 73% | 1,871 |
| 9 | Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,987 | $26,939 | $16,000 | 65% | 1,533 |
| 10 | Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,350 | $23,873 | $25,347 | 52% | 2,494 |
| 11 | Concordia University-Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,250 | $18,462 | $17,832 | 52% | 3,018 |
| 12 | Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN Public · 4-year | $67,658 | $16,863 | $17,100 | 42% | 5,616 |
| 13 | Carleton College Northfield, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $66,841 | $25,407 | $16,750 | 90% | 2,086 |
| 14 | University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN Public · 4-year | $66,056 | $18,743 | $22,024 | 65% | 7,336 |
| 15 | St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $65,829 | $19,764 | $24,181 | 63% | 2,473 |
| 16 | Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN Public · 4-year | $64,235 | $19,139 | $21,106 | 54% | 11,703 |
| 17 | College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,895 | $26,640 | $26,944 | 80% | 1,370 |
| 18 | University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN Public · 4-year | $62,786 | $12,212 | $20,500 | 50% | 1,729 |
| 19 | Hamline University Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $61,017 | $20,744 | $23,770 | 59% | 1,776 |
| 20 | Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $61,015 | $22,900 | $26,774 | 76% | 1,878 |
| 21 | Winona State University Winona, MN Public · 4-year | $60,533 | $17,503 | $21,500 | 59% | 5,144 |
| 22 | Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN Public · 4-year | $60,307 | $15,261 | $19,750 | 51% | 3,139 |
| 23 | Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN Public · 4-year | $59,194 | $13,529 | $21,058 | 44% | 5,088 |
| 24 | Macalester College Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,560 | $32,149 | $23,000 | 89% | 2,131 |
| 25 | University of Northwestern-St Paul Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $57,471 | $27,705 | $21,325 | 68% | 1,442 |
| 26 | Concordia College at Moorhead Moorhead, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,802 | $24,902 | $26,847 | 66% | 1,829 |
| 27 | St Olaf College Northfield, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,323 | $23,874 | $26,000 | 84% | 3,093 |
| 28 | Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, MN Public · 4-year | $55,083 | $17,997 | $20,000 | 56% | 3,072 |
| 29 | Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN Public · 4-year | $55,009 | $15,291 | $20,500 | 45% | 2,315 |
| 30 | Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Cloquet, MN Public · 4-year | $53,919 | $12,677 | $14,181 | 23% | 557 |
| 31 | University of Minnesota-Morris Morris, MN Public · 4-year | $51,631 | $8,837 | $18,995 | 62% | 936 |
| 32 | Crown College Saint Bonifacius, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,863 | $26,672 | $22,500 | 54% | 796 |
| 33 | Martin Luther College New Ulm, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,182 | $18,463 | $20,177 | 71% | 725 |
| 34 | North Central University Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,587 | $25,817 | $23,200 | 65% | 709 |
| 35 | Bethany Lutheran College Mankato, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,456 | $20,148 | $23,000 | 57% | 669 |
| 36 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $41,825 | $29,926 | $27,000 | 59% | 705 |
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 Minnesota
Cheapest colleges in Minnesota
34 schools
Cheap colleges in Minnesota for out-of-state students
27 schools
Community colleges in Minnesota
16 schools
Best value colleges in Minnesota
33 schools
Most affordable private colleges in Minnesota
22 schools
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Wisconsin
31 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Iowa
27 schools
Highest graduate earnings in New York
124 schools
All 60 colleges in Minnesota See the national version of this ranking