Montana Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  22

  35,573 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~4,308

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  12th pct

  $41,951

  44th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  70th pct

  1.9%

  14th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  2nd pct

  64%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  74th pct

  3.4x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Montana graduates earn a median of $41,951 a decade after entry, 14% below the national state average, ranking 44th of 50 states.

2. 2

   Upward mobility is a defining strength: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 1.9% rate, in the 70th percentile nationally.

3. 3

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 34% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

4. 4

   Humanities shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 28.5% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, Montana returns 3.4x 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 Rocky Mountain College, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 3.6% rate, the highest in Montana.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -13.1%

  Median graduate earnings in Montana are below the national average by 13%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -29.1%

  Net price in Montana is lower than the national average by 29%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▲ +0.14pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.1 percentage points above the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -11.9pp

  Montana's graduation rate is 11.9 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 36.9x

  Top value school: Fort Peck Community College ($14,747 earnings vs $400 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 13.1%

  13% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (18% of graduates) and Healthcare (16% of graduates) dominate Montana's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $39,723.

• Business

  18%

  $39,723 avg

• Healthcare

  16%

  $40,389 avg

• Humanities

  11%

  $37,355 avg

• Social Sciences

  11%

  $45,124 avg

• Sciences

  9%

  $46,186 avg

Montana's highest-ROI degree cluster is Trades (Mechanic & Repair Tech), where graduates average $41,055 against a net cost of $12,371, a 3.3x return. That's -20.4% vs the national median.

• Mechanic & Repair Tech

  3.3x
  $41,055 earnings · $12,371 net -20.4% vs natl

• Precision Production

  3.3x
  $40,618 earnings · $12,329 net -21.2% vs natl

• Criminal Justice

  3.3x
  $39,040 earnings · $11,855 net -24.3% vs natl

• Engineering

  3.2x
  $41,780 earnings · $13,018 net -19% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  3.2x
  $36,587 earnings · $11,402 net -29.1% vs natl

• Health Professions

  3.2x
  $38,148 earnings · $11,972 net -26% vs natl

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

Montana's colleges post an average mobility rate of 1.9%, which puts the state in the 70th percentile nationally. 13% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households, a larger share than most states enroll. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.21, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Humanities graduates, however, earn 28.5% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  18% of enrollment
  $40,341 -21.8% vs natl

  19 schools

• Healthcare

  16% of enrollment
  $38,148 -26% vs natl

  19 schools

• Humanities

  11% of enrollment
  $36,896 -28.5% vs natl

  10 schools

• Social Sciences

  11% of enrollment
  $47,700 -7.5% vs natl

  7 schools

• Sciences

  9% of enrollment
  $48,819 -5.3% vs natl

  7 schools

• Engineering

  8% of enrollment
  $53,796 +4.3% vs natl

  2 schools

Montana's higher education system includes 2 research-oriented, 3 specialized, 4 access-oriented, 13 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  2

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  13

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  4

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  3

  Specialized Institutions

62% of Montana's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $32,180 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  13

  62% of schools

  Avg earnings: $32,180

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  8

  38% of schools

  Avg earnings: $49,842

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 Carroll College Helena, MT $61,772
2. 02 Highlands College of Montana Tech Butte, MT $54,329
3. 03 Montana Technological University Butte, MT $54,329
4. 04 Montana State University Bozeman, MT $53,263
5. 05 Montana State University-Northern Havre, MT $49,505
6. 06 Rocky Mountain College Billings, MT $49,036
7. 07 University of Providence Great Falls, MT $48,296
8. 08 The University of Montana Missoula, MT $44,511

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

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