A new Brookings Institution study finds that Bellarmine University graduates outperform those from all other Kentucky colleges in salaries and “value-added” measures over the course of their careers.
Brookings reports that Bellarmine graduates have higher mid-career salaries than graduates of any other Kentucky university ranked in the study. Those Bellarmine salaries are 20 percent higher than the average salaries for their Kentucky peers, based on the average for ranked Kentucky institutions. Additionally, the study found that a Bellarmine degree adds 16 percent to the mid-career salaries of its graduates compared to those from similar U.S. universities.
Brookings Institution chart showing the "value-added" impact Bellarmine provides between expected and actual salary outcomes for mid-career alumni. |
“Value-added” is an analysis of the difference between actual alumni outcomes, like salaries, and the outcomes one would expect given a student’s characteristics and the type of university.
According to Brookings, this measure improves on conventional college rankings by focusing on the factors that best predict positive economic outcomes for graduates.
The April 2015 study, which used a mix of government and private data to examine the effects colleges themselves have on student outcomes, is an effort by Brookings to help students and their parents with one of the most important investment decisions they’ll make: where to attend college.
This research supports recent data released by the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics showing that Bellarmine graduates working in Kentucky earn a higher average salary than graduates from any other Kentucky college or university.