Data Brief
Utah Opportunity Chain · Part 3 of 9
Output
Early-Career Earnings by Utah Pathway Type
Median earnings six years after entry, grouped by pathway type across Utah institutions in the College Scorecard.
At a glance
- USHE four-year institutions median $46K earnings six years after entry.
- Technical college median: $38K, competitive with community college ($38K) on this metric.
- Pathway type explains less than field of study; program-level data is the next layer (future deep dives).
How much do graduates earn six years after starting, by pathway type? The table below compares USHE four-year, community college, technical college, for-profit, and private nonprofit medians using the same earnings field1 across the Utah Opportunity Chain.
Median earnings 6 years after entry
By pathway type · Utah College Scorecard
Source: College Scorecard · Utah 63 institutions
What this means
Early-career earnings alone do not define ROI. Net price and debt matter (Parts 5 and 8). Technical and community pathways show overlapping medians, which is why families should compare specific programs, not sector labels alone.
Sources & methodology
- College Scorecard MD_EARN_WNE_P6
- Utah institution registry (Data/higher-education/institutions/utah-institutions.json)
- BLS OES Utah used for labor-market context in editorial review
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