TACOMA — We have all been told that going to college and earning a degree is a lucrative investment to make for your future.
Although earning a degree in general can have positive effects on your annual income, other factors such as where you get your degree from and what field you received your degree in can also have an impact.
Degree Choices, a higher education research group, conducted a new study that ranked which states had the highest earning graduates. Degree Choices analyzed the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard’s data on the average earnings of students that earned their degree in 2022, received at least $1 in financial aid and joined the workforce.
In order to rank which states had the highest average earning graduates, the research group gathered and analyzed data from 5,500 institutions of higher education that predominantly offer four-year degrees. The study found that Washington is among the top 10 states with highest-earning college graduates.
Where did Washington rank in the study?
The study found that Washington is the state with the ninth highest-earning college graduates.
According to the study, students who attend and graduate from an institution in Washington make an average annual salary of $55,125 four years after graduating.
But of 92 Washington institutions listed on the College Scorecard, the study found that the highest-earning graduates in the state come from The DigiPen Institute of Technology. Graduates of that institution make an average of $77,998 annually four years after graduating.
What is the DigiPen Institute of Technology?
The DigiPen Institute of Technology is a private university in Redmond that was opened in 1998.
According to the DigiPen website, it was initially founded in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1988 as a research and development institute for computer science and animation by Claude Comair, an engineer who earned his master’s degree in environmental engineering at Osaka University in Japan.
The DigiPen Institute of Technology was started as a way to offer specialized training programs in 3D computer animation in order to keep up with the demand for work in this field. DigiPen later partnered with Nintendo of America to establish a certification program in video game programming. After relocating to Redmond, DigiPen began offering a bachelor of science in computer science in real-time interactive simulation, the first of its kind in the world.
Today, DigiPen offers eight bachelor’s degree programs and two master degree programs at its Redmond campus.
Other WA institutions with high earning graduates
Aside from DigiPen, here are five more colleges in Washington with graduates who earn more than the average annual salary of a student who has graduated from a Washington institution, according to College Scorecard data on average annual income of graduates that received federal financial aid at 10 years after entering the school.
- Gonzaga University — $76,325
- University of Washington- Bothell Campus — $74,063
- University of Washington- Seattle Campus — $74,063
- University of Washington- Tacoma Campus — $74, 063
- Seattle University — $73,484
Top five states for high-earning graduates
According to the study, these are the top five states with the highest earning graduates and their average annual earnings:
- Massachusetts — $59,862
- Connecticut — $59,862
- New Jersey — $58,904
- California — $58,441
- Nevada — $58,376
