Finance and Financial Management Services at Rhode Island College

That first-year earnings figure of $34,991 should catch your attention—it places Rhode Island College's finance program in the bottom 10% both nationally and statewide. Even accounting for the small sample size, this is concerning for a field where the typical graduate earns $53,590 nationally and $56,798 in Rhode Island. Your child would be starting nearly $22,000 below the state median, and roughly $26,000 behind graduates from Bryant or Providence College.

The 76% earnings jump by year four offers some reassurance, bringing graduates to $61,463—solidly above average and competitive with Rhode Island's better-known business schools. This suggests graduates eventually find their footing, though that difficult first year matters when you're carrying $23,750 in debt. The debt load itself is manageable, but the weak initial earnings create a tighter financial picture than you'd expect from a finance degree.

The small sample size here is crucial. With fewer than 30 graduates tracked, a handful of students taking gap years or pursuing graduate school immediately could skew these numbers dramatically. If your child is considering this program, I'd recommend asking the business school directly about typical outcomes and whether recent graduates struggled with initial placements. At an 81% admission rate serving many first-generation students, Rhode Island College may simply have graduates starting in roles that take longer to leverage their finance degrees—but you'll want clarity on why that first year lags so far behind.