Computer Science at University of Minnesota-Morris

A $55,441 starting salary for computer science puts this program in the bottom quartile both nationally and within Minnesota—roughly $15,000 below what CS graduates earn at Minnesota's flagship Twin Cities campus. That's a significant gap in a field where strong starting salaries are typically a given. The relatively low debt load of $19,993 softens the blow somewhat, but we're still looking at first-year earnings that trail the median Minnesota CS graduate by $17,000.

The trajectory improves dramatically over four years, with earnings jumping 48% to reach $81,843—competitive with many stronger programs. But that's cold comfort for parents wondering why their child would start $15,000 behind peers from UMN-Twin Cities or even UMN-Duluth, both of which likely charge similar tuition for in-state students. The small sample size here is critical: with fewer than 30 graduates tracked, these numbers could swing significantly year to year.

For a student committed to Morris for other reasons—perhaps the small liberal arts environment or specific scholarship offers—the reasonable debt load prevents this from being a financial disaster. But families comparing CS programs across Minnesota's public universities should recognize they're likely sacrificing immediate earning potential, at least based on this limited data. The stronger Minnesota programs aren't hard to access, and they deliver substantially better day-one outcomes.