Public · COLLEGE PAYOFF

SUNY College at Potsdam

Potsdam, NY · 20 reportable field-and-credential outcomes

10-year estimate · Negative payoff

−$196,026 over 10 years

Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.

With these assumptions, the added earnings do not recover the cost within ten years.

61.0 yrsModeled economic break-even
−84%Modeled 10-year ROI
$48,847Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedMaximum annual price for positive 10-year payoff
Includes direct price and earnings forgone while studying. Assumes $45,000 in alternative annual earnings and no wage growth. How we calculate it
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK

Estimated payoff over ten years.

The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.

10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$196,026at year 10
Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
−$234,4960
2
4
6
8
−$196,02610
Years after graduationBreak-even: 61.0 years
FEDERAL COST DATA

Four ways to read college price.

Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.

Published in-state tuition$8,768
Sticker price
Published out-of-state tuition$18,678
Sticker price
Average net price$13,624
Title IV student average
Cost of attendance$25,083
Tuition + living budget
PRICE SOURCECollege reported · annual amount · federal dataset
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE

Institution details

Current federal characteristics describing the college—not the outcomes of a specific program.

Accreditor
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Main award level
Bachelor’s degrees
Campus setting
Town
Admissions
Selective admission
Delivery
Campus or mixed delivery
Federal designation
No special designation reported
Sources: College Scorecard June 2026 release and IPEDS 2024 institutional characteristics.
OBSERVED FEDERAL MEASURES

Cost, debt, completion and earnings context

$13,624Average net price / year
$25,083Cost of attendance
$24,250Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$257/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$48,847Median earnings · year 5 after completion
45.3%Completion rate
77.7%Admission rate
1,823Student size

Institution debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded; missing and privacy-suppressed values remain unavailable.

PRICE BY FAMILY INCOME

Average net price is not one price

Federal averages for aided students in each family-income band. Your aid offer can differ.

$0–30k$8,623
$30–48k$8,684
$48–75k$14,524
$75–110k$15,513
$110k+$20,041
LONGER-TERM CONTEXT

What happens beyond the first earnings measure

Year 5$48,847
Year 6$39,440
Year 10$47,866
Full-time retention
77.7%
Part-time retention
Not available
Completion within 200% of normal time
51.0%

Earnings timepoints may use different historical cohorts and should not be read as one group’s guaranteed salary growth.

NATIONAL CONTEXT

How this college compares

Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.

59thEarnings percentile
31thCompletion percentile
WHAT STANDS OUT

A faster read on this college

These summaries use only reportable field-and-credential records at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.

$48,920Median year-4 earnings across reportable program categories
$26,525Median federal debt across categories that report debt
28%Of earnings-reporting categories above their same-field national benchmark
EARNINGS PATH

Reported earnings over time

$31,231Year 1
$49,169Year 4
$48,847Year 5

Separate federal cohorts may underlie different measurement years.

PROGRAM PAYOFF SPREAD

The college average is not the whole story.

Observed earnings vary substantially by field and credential at the same institution.

1Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences · Bachelor's Degree$62,0042Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas · Bachelor's Degree$57,9493Business Administration, Management and Operations · Bachelor's Degree$57,0664Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods · Bachelor's Degree$53,8345Criminal Justice and Corrections · Bachelor's Degree$53,5976Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management · Bachelor's Degree$52,5837Sociology · Bachelor's Degree$51,0868Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General · Bachelor's Degree$50,659

Observed year-4 earnings · compare like fields and credentials before deciding

Strongest relative outcomes

Programs that stand out against the same-degree benchmark

This view rewards performance relative to the same field and credential—not simply majors that pay more everywhere.

1Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and MethodsBachelor's Degree · $53,834 reported+14%vs same-degree national median$27,000federal debt2Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject AreasBachelor's Degree · $57,949 reported+13%vs same-degree national median$27,000federal debt3Arts, Entertainment, and Media ManagementBachelor's Degree · $52,583 reported+9%vs same-degree national median$27,000federal debt4Geological and Earth Sciences/GeosciencesBachelor's Degree · $62,004 reported+3%vs same-degree national medianNot availablefederal debt5English Language and Literature, GeneralBachelor's Degree · $48,920 reported+1%vs same-degree national median$30,000federal debt6SociologyBachelor's Degree · $51,086 reported-3%vs same-degree national median$26,000federal debt
BUILD A REAL SHORTLIST

Comparable colleges in NY

Currently operating public institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive—not a quality ranking.

Suffern, NY

Rockland Community College

Annual net price
$11,282
Observed earnings · year 5
$49,094
Modeled 10-year ROI
-82%
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Fredonia, NY

SUNY at Fredonia

Annual net price
$15,897
Observed earnings · year 5
$49,968
Modeled 10-year ROI
-80%
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West Seneca, NY

Erie 1 BOCES

Annual net price
$12,987
Observed earnings · year 5
$45,778
Modeled 10-year ROI
-97%
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Buffalo, NY

SUNY Buffalo State University

Annual net price
$11,346
Observed earnings · year 5
$50,369
Modeled 10-year ROI
-76%
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ALL REPORTABLE PROGRAM CATEGORIES

Explore exact field-and-credential outcomes

Federal fieldCredentialEarnings, year 4Federal debt2023–24 awards
Geological and Earth Sciences/GeosciencesBachelor's Degree$62,004Not availableNot reported
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject AreasBachelor's Degree$57,949$27,000Not reported
Business Administration, Management and OperationsBachelor's Degree$57,066$26,000Not reported
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and MethodsBachelor's Degree$53,834$27,000Not reported
Criminal Justice and CorrectionsBachelor's Degree$53,597$25,999Not reported
Arts, Entertainment, and Media ManagementBachelor's Degree$52,583$27,000Not reported
SociologyBachelor's Degree$51,086$26,000Not reported
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, GeneralBachelor's Degree$50,659$27,000Not reported
Biology, GeneralBachelor's Degree$49,725$25,000Not reported
English Language and Literature, GeneralBachelor's Degree$48,920$30,000Not reported
Psychology, GeneralBachelor's Degree$48,601$26,525Not reported
HistoryBachelor's Degree$45,234$26,500Not reported
Communication and Media StudiesBachelor's Degree$43,686$26,001Not reported
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing StudiesBachelor's Degree$38,562$27,000Not reported
MusicBachelor's Degree$36,677$27,000Not reported
Visual and Performing Arts, GeneralBachelor's Degree$33,743$27,000Not reported
Drama/Theatre Arts and StagecraftBachelor's Degree$33,581$26,208Not reported
Fine and Studio ArtsBachelor's Degree$30,688$27,000Not reported
Natural Resources Conservation and ResearchBachelor's DegreeNot available$26,000Not reported
MathematicsBachelor's DegreeNot available$24,028Not reported

Awards use first-major IPEDS completions aggregated to the same four-digit field and credential.

Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.