How much do Rhode Island college graduates earn?

The median bachelor's program in Rhode Island pays its graduates $42,181 in their first year, the median associate's program $39,026, and the median certificate program $38,659.

How much student debt do Rhode Island graduates have?

The median bachelor's program in Rhode Island leaves its graduates with $26,000 in federal debt, the median associate's program $17,432, and the median certificate program $11,200, all higher than the national medians.

How many Rhode Island colleges report graduate pay?

14 Rhode Island schools report first-year pay for at least one program, 230 programs in all. 9 of them have at least one program with its own page here.

Rhode Island Colleges and Majors, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

230 programs report first-year pay
9 schools with program pages
8 field rankings

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BEA price parities 2024

The short answer

The median Rhode Island bachelor's program pays its graduates $42,181 in their first year, $2,140 more than the national median. Of the 8 bachelor's fields ranked in Rhode Island, accounting pays the most ($61,097) and communications the least ($33,596). The median bachelor's program leaves its graduates with $26,000 in federal debt, compared with $25,000 nationally.

Median first-year pay, bachelor's$42,181Across 201 programs. National $40,042

Median pay after 5 years, bachelor's$66,052Across 182 programs. National $57,933

Median federal debt, bachelor's$26,000Across 202 programs. National $25,000

Prices compared with the US2% higherBEA price level 102.3, US average 100

Pay and debt by credential

Medians across every Rhode Island program at each credential that reports the figure, next to the national median.

Credential	Programs	Year 1 pay	National	Debt	National
Bachelor's	201	$42,181	$40,042	$26,000	$25,000
Associate's	23	$39,026	$38,507	$17,432	$15,186
Certificate	6	$38,659	$31,106	$11,200	$10,780

Bachelor's fields in Rhode Island, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Rhode Island bachelor's programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Accounting	6	$61,097	$27,000
2	Finance	7	$60,042	$26,953
3	Business Administration	8	$50,113	$27,000
4	Marketing	7	$44,506	$26,698
5	Biology	7	$39,910	$26,975
6	Political Science	6	$39,220	$22,343
7	Psychology	5	$35,096	$27,000
8	Communications	7	$33,596	$25,125

9 Rhode Island schools

Every Rhode Island school with at least one program page. School names link to the school's page, which ranks all its programs.

School	City	Type	Programs
Brown University	Providence	Private nonprofit	24
Bryant University	Smithfield	Private nonprofit	11
Johnson & Wales University-Providence	Providence	Private nonprofit	25
New England Institute of Technology	East Greenwich	Private nonprofit	21
Providence College	Providence	Private nonprofit	16
Rhode Island College	Providence	Public	31
Roger Williams University	Bristol	Private nonprofit	19
Salve Regina University	Newport	Private nonprofit	10
University of Rhode Island	Kingston	Public	49

"Programs" counts the school's programs that report first-year pay.

Common questions

The median accounting bachelor's program in Rhode Island pays its graduates $61,097 in their first year, the most of 8 bachelor's fields ranked here. Finance is next, at $60,042.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Rhode Island figures when their main campus is in another state.
Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024