Is An Albertus Magnus College Degree Worth the Investment in 2026?

Contributed by: Jeffrey Luoma, Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Albertus Magnus College

Over the past decade, there has been a growing public perception that a college education is not as valuable as it once was. Even in a period when nearly all institutions are losing public trust, the decline in confidence for higher education stands out. In fact, Americans’ confidence in higher education is at just 42%, according to a 2025 Gallup study. 

So, is a college degree still worth it?

At Albertus Magnus College, the answer remains a resounding, “Yes!” As an institutional researcher—someone who analyzes data for a living—I can back that up with robust evidence.

For starters, it is clear that college significantly boosts employment prospects and earnings potential. In fact, the median lifetime earnings for someone who holds a Bachelor’s degree is $2.3 million, which is 31% more than workers with an Associate’s degree and 74% more than those with just a high school diploma. And the earnings difference is immediate, as a recent Burning Glass study found that a four-year degree delivers a 25% wage premium in the first year after graduation. An Albertus education in particular offers a significant boost – for 10 consecutive years, at least 95% of our graduates have found employment or gone on to graduate school within six months of graduation, far outpacing the national average.

But a college education is about much more than securing a good job and income. Just ask Ena Williams ’07, ’08, who earned both her M.B.A. and Master’s of Science in Management from Albertus, and who is currently the Chief Nurse Executive of Yale New Haven Health.

“I have this conversation with my kids all the time,” says Williams. “I say, one, you learn things in college that you can’t learn in your field; and two, college provides opportunities that open doors. It sends a message that you took the time and had the discipline to pursue something that required work. A degree communicates who you are as an individual. Any skill you have, there is a science behind it – a fundamental process. It’s the ‘why’ you do things; it’s the ‘how’ you can make it better.”

But don’t just take a graduate’s word for it. Metrics matter, and Albertus’s success stories are easily measured. 

Since 2023, the New York Times has published Build Your Own College Rankings, an interactive tool to help prospective students identify the schools that best match what they value most – earnings potential, athletics, academics, diversity, geographic location, etc.  Based on graduation rate thresholds and minimum size requirements, Albertus is among only 883 institutions included out of more than 4,000 colleges and universities nationwide. When prioritizing upward economic mobility in the Times’ rankings, Albertus is #1 among the 88 institutions ranked in New England. When multiple factors are prioritized – academics, athletics, economic diversity, economic mobility, high earnings, and racial diversity – Albertus ranks #3 in New England and in the top 6% nationally.

As another piece of evidence, a study on return-on-investment (ROI) from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that Albertus is in the top 15% of nearly 3,400 schools when weighting ROI to reflect key factors that support low-income students. Projecting over a 40-year timespan, and putting a spotlight on the number of low-income students served, Albertus demonstrated its tremendous value, ranking behind only Yale, Wesleyan, and Trinity among Connecticut’s private bachelor-degree-granting institutions.

To see our graduates ranked so high nationally, even 40 years after enrollment, is a true testament to what a great investment Albertus is over a lifetime. For 100 years, Albertus Magnus College has been changing lives, preparing its graduates for a lifetime of career success and civic engagement. And the benefits that graduates receive from a college degree flow into their families as well as their communities. 

So, if you or your child is asking the question, “Is a college degree still worth it?” The data is clear and settled: college is transformational in both the short-term and in the long-run, and an Albertus education truly changes lives – providing the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ you were meant to do something.

Jeffrey Luoma is the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Albertus Magnus College, where he uses internal and external data to support institutional decision-making, strategic planning, and outcomes assessment.