Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Computer Networking degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $53,718 two years after finishing, more than 64% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 85 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

C

The verdict on the money

It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.

Median earnings $53,718 2 years after finishing
Typical range $45,305–$56,544 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$14,198 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 1,048 85 programmes

Where a Computer Networking degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Rochester Institute of Technology cost & debt at this university → $72,401 $72,901 $87,280 —
2 Wentworth Institute of Technology cost & debt at this university → $76,201 $68,219 $74,773 30
3 DePaul University cost & debt at this university → $56,840 $63,501 $72,143 19
4 University of Minnesota-Duluth cost & debt at this university → $53,217 $61,218 $70,085 19
5 University of Wisconsin-Stout cost & debt at this university → $53,164 $61,064 $72,939 50
6 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities $64,669 $60,433 $73,951 43
7 Utah Valley University cost & debt at this university → $71,493 $60,298 $70,174 58
8 University of Akron Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $48,250 $59,950 $63,151 10
9 Weber State University cost & debt at this university → $50,526 $57,318 $65,258 18
10 Ohio University-Zanesville Campus $49,122 $56,544 $63,463 —
11 Ohio University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $49,122 $56,544 $63,463 18
12 Ohio University-Lancaster Campus $49,122 $56,544 $63,463 —

What this figure does and does not tell you

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $42,682, so Computer Networking sits above the middle by $11,036.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Computer Networking at other levels

Master's — $66,592 (C)

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Statistics — $53,897 Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians — $55,078 Geological/Geophysical Engineering — $55,867 Management Information Systems — $56,099 Agricultural Engineering — $56,867 Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians — $57,318

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Computer Networking: the questions people ask

How much do Computer Networking graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $53,718 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 43 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $50,307.
Is a Computer Networking degree worth it?
It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label. The median graduate earns $14,198 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Computer Networking?
Half of US programmes report medians between $45,305 and $56,544. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Computer Networking each year?
About 1,048 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 85 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
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Classified by the Department of Education as Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications (CIP 1109). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.