Nebraska Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  30

  78,725 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~10,200

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  72nd pct

  $52,289

  14th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  35th pct

  1.3%

  30th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  70th pct

  73%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  58th pct

  2.9x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Nebraska graduates earn a median of $52,289 a decade after entry, 7% above the national state average, ranking 14th of 50 states.

2. 2

   Upward mobility sits mid-pack: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 1.3% rate, in the 35th percentile nationally.

3. 3

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 39% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

4. 4

   Humanities shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 13.2% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, Nebraska returns 2.9x earnings per dollar of net price, roughly average cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is Mid-Plains Community College, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 1.9% rate, the highest in Nebraska.

• Earnings vs National

  ▲ +9.6%

  Median graduate earnings in Nebraska are above the national average by 10%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -4.5%

  Net price in Nebraska is lower than the national average by 4%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▼ -0.42pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.4 percentage points below the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -1.2pp

  Nebraska's graduation rate is 1.2 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 7.8x

  Top value school: Metropolitan Community College Area ($38,773 earnings vs $4,982 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 8.9%

  9% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (27% of graduates) and Healthcare (12% of graduates) dominate Nebraska's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $52,068.

• Business

  27%

  $52,068 avg

• Healthcare

  12%

  $56,321 avg

• Technology

  10%

  $50,200 avg

• Education

  9%

  $49,798 avg

• Social Sciences

  8%

  $53,576 avg

Nebraska's highest-ROI degree cluster is Trades (Mechanic & Repair Tech), where graduates average $40,049 against a net cost of $6,059, a 6.6x return. That's -22.3% vs the national median. At the other end, Communications produces $52,273 at a 2.8x return, less than half what the top cluster delivers.

• Mechanic & Repair Tech

  6.6x
  $40,049 earnings · $6,059 net -22.3% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  6.6x
  $40,049 earnings · $6,059 net -22.3% vs natl

• Precision Production

  6.6x
  $40,049 earnings · $6,059 net -22.3% vs natl

• Legal Studies

  3.6x
  $56,518 earnings · $15,883 net +9.6% vs natl

• Transportation

  3.5x
  $52,007 earnings · $14,842 net +0.8% vs natl

• Culinary & Personal Services

  3.5x
  $44,237 earnings · $12,659 net -14.2% vs natl

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

Nebraska's colleges post an average mobility rate of 1.3%, which puts the state in the 35th percentile nationally. 9% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.57, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Humanities graduates, however, earn 13.2% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  27% of enrollment
  $50,828 -1.4% vs natl

  21 schools

• Healthcare

  12% of enrollment
  $52,710 +2.2% vs natl

  20 schools

• Technology

  10% of enrollment
  $47,069 -8.7% vs natl

  8 schools

• Education

  9% of enrollment
  $50,625 -1.8% vs natl

  15 schools

• Social Sciences

  8% of enrollment
  $53,839 +4.4% vs natl

  13 schools

• Humanities

  7% of enrollment
  $44,745 -13.2% vs natl

  11 schools

Nebraska's higher education system includes 3 research-oriented, 8 specialized, 1 access-oriented, 18 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  3

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  18

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  1

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  8

  Specialized Institutions

33% of Nebraska's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $45,633 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  9

  33% of schools

  Avg earnings: $45,633

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  13

  48% of schools

  Avg earnings: $53,107

• NET PRICE $25K–$40K

  5

  19% of schools

  Avg earnings: $55,553

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE $76,833
2. 02 Creighton University Omaha, NE $73,911
3. 03 Bryan College of Health Sciences Lincoln, NE $70,845
4. 04 Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health Omaha, NE $65,071
5. 05 Clarkson College Omaha, NE $64,876
6. 06 Bellevue University Bellevue, NE $61,289
7. 07 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE $56,887
8. 08 Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Curtis, NE $56,887

What graduates in Nebraska 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 →