Most people go to college to earn a degree with the long term goal of getting a job. But it’s not just about the job, it is about the ability to eventually be able to support yourself and family financially. Financial stability is something that looks different based on specific circumstances and lifestyle, but it is a noble goal for everyone. Every year, Payscale does a ranking based on the Best Universities and Colleges by Salary Potential. This is important because when you are deciding on a college or university, you want to know the value of that degree in the real job market. Once again this year, SUNY is all over the list, showing the true return on investment on a degree earned at The State University of New York.
In the latest rankings, SUNY Maritime College comes out at #4 for the best salary potential in the entire nation. For alumni with 0-5 years experience, so those graduates from 2017 going back to the class of 2012, the average salary is $71,600. For alumni with 10+ years experience, the average salary is $145,100. SUNY Maritime College is the first college on the list to be a state school, arguable making it the best public college in the country by salary potential.
How the list is made
So how is the list made? The data is collected through an ongoing, online survey where people input their job, compensation, educational background, and other personal details. The data is tested and vetted before it is used in the report to make sure it is all accurate. For the 2017-2018 report, 2.3 million surveys were collected.
SUNY on the list
There were many SUNY institutions on the list other than Maritime. Just using the Bachelor’s degree ranking list, they are:
- University at Albany
- Alfred- College of Technology
- Binghamton University
- College at Brockport
- University at Buffalo
- Buffalo State College
- Cobleskill- College of Agriculture and Technology
- Cortland
- Delhi
- Downstate Medical Center
- Empire State College
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)
- Fredonia
- Geneseo
- Maritime College
- Old Westbury
- Oneonta
- Oswego
- Plattsburgh
- SUNY Polytechnic Institute
- Potsdam
- Purchase College
- Stony Brook University
- Upstate Medical University
At the end of the day, a degree from a SUNY really does pay off. With all of the ways SUNY and New York State tries to make a college degree affordable, like the Excelsior Scholarship and SUNY’s Smart Track, there are hundreds of ways to make a degree affordable and come out with great earning potential from a state university.
