Utah Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  19

  167,419 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~23,173

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  54th pct

  $50,069

  23rd of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  0th pct

  0.9%

  46th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  72nd pct

  71%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  6th pct

  1.9x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Utah graduates earn a median of $50,069 a decade after entry, 3% above the national state average, ranking 23rd of 50 states.

2. 2

   Upward mobility sits mid-pack: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 0.9% rate, in the 0th percentile nationally.

3. 3

   Degree production is led by Humanities and Healthcare, which together account for 38% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

4. 4

   Sciences is the standout sector: graduates earn $69,725, +35.2% versus the national median. That premium points to a real wage advantage rather than sheer volume.

5. 5

   Healthcare shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 7.2% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

6. 6

   On value, Utah returns 1.9x earnings per dollar of net price, below average cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -8.5%

  Median graduate earnings in Utah are below the national average by 9%.

• Cost vs National

  ▼ +3.5%

  Net price in Utah is higher than the national average by 3%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▼ -0.84pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.8 percentage points below the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▲ +11.8pp

  Utah's graduation rate is 11.8 percentage points above the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 16.4x

  Top value school: Bridgerland Technical College ($38,347 earnings vs $2,338 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 4.8%

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

Humanities (21% of graduates) and Healthcare (18% of graduates) dominate Utah's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $51,918.

• Humanities

  21%

  $51,918 avg

• Healthcare

  18%

  $39,434 avg

• Business

  15%

  $59,313 avg

• Social Sciences

  10%

  $63,156 avg

• Technology

  9%

  $81,666 avg

Utah's highest-ROI degree cluster is Trades (Precision Production), where graduates average $49,599 against a net cost of $9,167, a 5.4x return. That's -3.8% vs the national median. At the other end, Health Professions produces $48,018 at a 2.5x return, less than half what the top cluster delivers.

• Precision Production

  5.4x
  $49,599 earnings · $9,167 net -3.8% vs natl

• Transportation

  5.3x
  $49,739 earnings · $9,426 net -3.6% vs natl

• Culinary & Personal Services

  5.3x
  $49,739 earnings · $9,426 net -3.6% vs natl

• Legal Studies

  5.3x
  $49,739 earnings · $9,426 net -3.6% vs natl

• Engineering

  5.0x
  $55,993 earnings · $11,144 net +8.6% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  4.9x
  $49,899 earnings · $10,202 net -3.2% vs natl

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

Utah's colleges post an average mobility rate of 0.9%, which puts the state in the 0th percentile nationally. 5% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.62, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Utah's Sciences programs produce graduates earning $69,725, +35.2% relative to the national median. Healthcare graduates, however, earn 7.2% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Humanities

  21% of enrollment
  $50,830 -1.4% vs natl

  6 schools

• Healthcare

  18% of enrollment
  $47,866 -7.2% vs natl

  15 schools

• Business

  15% of enrollment
  $57,128 +10.8% vs natl

  9 schools

• Social Sciences

  10% of enrollment
  $65,799 +27.6% vs natl

  4 schools

• Technology

  9% of enrollment
  $66,738 +29.4% vs natl

  6 schools

• Sciences

  7% of enrollment
  $69,725 +35.2% vs natl

  3 schools

Utah's higher education system includes 2 research-oriented, 9 specialized, 1 access-oriented, 7 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  2

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  7

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  1

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  9

  Specialized Institutions

35% of Utah's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $50,830 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  6

  35% of schools

  Avg earnings: $50,830

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  2

  12% of schools

  Avg earnings: $71,480

• NET PRICE $25K–$40K

  9

  53% of schools

  Avg earnings: $49,869

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 Neumont College of Computer Science Salt Lake City, UT $97,827
2. 02 Brigham Young University Provo, UT $75,790
3. 03 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT $67,170
4. 04 Westminster University Salt Lake City, UT $66,215
5. 05 Galen Health Institutes-Salt Lake City Draper, UT $61,480
6. 06 Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT $60,615
7. 07 Weber State University Ogden, UT $56,287
8. 08 Utah Valley University Orem, UT $55,486

What graduates in Utah 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 →