Delaware Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  6

  43,094 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~5,318

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  64th pct

  $51,576

  18th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  0.8%

  Limited data (under 5 schools)

• Talent Retention

  18th pct

  74%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  72nd pct

  3.3x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Delaware graduates earn a median of $51,576 a decade after entry, 6% above the national state average, ranking 18th of 50 states.

2. 2

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 42% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

3. 3

   Social Sciences is the standout sector: graduates earn $58,998, +14.4% versus the national median. That premium points to a real wage advantage rather than sheer volume.

4. 4

   Technology shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 12.5% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, Delaware returns 3.3x earnings per dollar of net price, among the strongest cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is University of Delaware, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 0.9% rate, the highest in Delaware.

• Earnings vs National

  ▲ +1.7%

  Median graduate earnings in Delaware are above the national average by 2%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -16.4%

  Net price in Delaware is lower than the national average by 16%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▼ -0.89pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.9 percentage points below the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -0.6pp

  Delaware's graduation rate is 0.6 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 4.1x

  Top value school: University of Delaware ($72,950 earnings vs $17,799 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 5.4%

  5% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (23% of graduates) and Healthcare (19% of graduates) dominate Delaware's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $51,320.

• Business

  23%

  $51,320 avg

• Healthcare

  19%

  $49,976 avg

• Social Sciences

  11%

  $58,761 avg

• Technology

  10%

  $48,814 avg

• Humanities

  8%

  $53,292 avg

Delaware's highest-ROI degree cluster is Sciences (Physical Sciences), where graduates average $61,129 against a net cost of $15,855, a 3.9x return. That's +18.5% vs the national median.

• Physical Sciences

  3.9x
  $61,129 earnings · $15,855 net +18.5% vs natl

• Mathematics & Statistics

  3.9x
  $61,129 earnings · $15,855 net +18.5% vs natl

• English & Literature

  3.9x
  $60,716 earnings · $15,754 net +17.7% vs natl

• Engineering

  3.8x
  $54,568 earnings · $14,429 net +5.8% vs natl

• Psychology

  3.8x
  $58,998 earnings · $15,727 net +14.4% vs natl

• Health Professions

  3.7x
  $55,488 earnings · $14,897 net +7.6% vs natl

Three lenses on Delaware's talent pipeline: which fields produce the most graduates, which command the highest earnings, and where high-pay demand outruns local supply.

Delaware's colleges post an average mobility rate of 0.8%. 5% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.48, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Delaware's Social Sciences programs produce graduates earning $58,998, +14.4% relative to the national median. Technology graduates, however, earn 12.5% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  23% of enrollment
  $52,922 +2.6% vs natl

  6 schools

• Healthcare

  19% of enrollment
  $54,387 +5.5% vs natl

  4 schools

• Social Sciences

  11% of enrollment
  $58,998 +14.4% vs natl

  4 schools

• Technology

  10% of enrollment
  $45,128 -12.5% vs natl

  3 schools

• Humanities

  8% of enrollment
  $45,378 -12% vs natl

  2 schools

• Education

  8% of enrollment
  $56,081 +8.7% vs natl

  3 schools

Delaware's higher education system includes 1 research-oriented, 1 specialized, 1 access-oriented, 3 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  1

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  3

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  1

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  1

  Specialized Institutions

33% of Delaware's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $45,378 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  2

  33% of schools

  Avg earnings: $45,378

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  4

  67% of schools

  Avg earnings: $56,695

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 University of Delaware Newark, DE $72,950
2. 02 Margaret H Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center Lewes, DE $72,380
3. 03 Goldey-Beacom College Wilmington, DE $59,892
4. 04 Wilmington University New Castle, DE $53,844
5. 05 Delaware State University Dover, DE $49,307
6. 06 Delaware Technical Community College-Terry Dover, DE $41,448
7. 07 Strayer University-Delaware Wilmington, DE $40,092
8. 08 Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware Newark, DE $32,242

What graduates in Delaware earn relative to what they pay for college.

• Delaware State University

Every figure on this page is derived from public federal data and read within its regional and economic context. Information Gain Policy →