-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Butler University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (0.5% → 0.0%).
Indiana · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Butler University
Indianapolis, Indiana. 4,383 undergraduate students. 94 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Butler University
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
+46%
Private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer
10-year earnings at Butler University are 46% above the private nonprofit bachelor's-predominant peer median ($77.2k vs $52.9k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Indiana
Each tile compares this institution to the Indiana median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$77,235+25% · 6→10y
Indiana median $46,945$61,627
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry80.2%+33% · '97→'24
Indiana median 60.7%$22,238+114% · '97→'20
At program completion4,383+39% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS88.1%-1% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time85.9%+1% · '01→'24
latest cohort$45,980+164% · '00→'24
out-of-state $45,980SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
3.8%Median federal debt $22,238 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $77,235 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+33%
Butler University · completion · 150% rose
60.5% → 80.4%
+78%
Butler University · completion · 100% rose
40.5% → 72.0%
+39%
Butler University · undergrad enrollment rose
3,109 → 4,317
+164%
Butler University · in-state tuition rose
$18,040 → $47,560
+164%
Butler University · out-of-state tuition rose
$18,040 → $47,560
+114%
Butler University · median debt rose
$12,158 → $26,000
-70%
Butler University · cohort default rate fell
1.4% → 0.0%
+21%
Butler University · pell share rose
12.4% → 15.0%
+50%
Butler University · earnings_median_10yr rose
$51,500 → $77,235
+47%
Butler University · earnings_median_8yr rose
$48,900 → $71,943
+44%
Butler University · earnings_median_6yr rose
$42,900 → $61,627
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration.$142,376Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$127,507Business Administration, Management and Operations.$115,979Computer and Information Sciences, General.$93,188Management Information Systems and Services.$86,793Educational Administration and Supervision.$83,109Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.$79,363Finance and Financial Management Services.$77,354Insurance.$75,956International Business.$73,756Chemistry.$73,619Economics.$72,572Accounting and Related Services.$72,136Marketing.$71,635Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations.$66,952Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.$62,341Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.$54,854Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$48,664Psychology, General.$45,152Criminology.$44,373Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management.$41,551
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
21 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
FOREIGN LANGUAGES · CIP 16
PHYSICAL SCIENCES · CIP 40
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS · CIP 50
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
Finance and Financial Management Services.$77,354Marketing.$71,635Business Administration, Management and Operations.$115,979Accounting and Related Services.$72,136Management Information Systems and Services.$86,793Insurance.$75,956Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations.$66,952Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.$79,363International Business.$73,756
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Butler University
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$666,947
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 10
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $36,016
- HS-only baseline · IN
- $36,400
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 52
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Indiana
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Butler University graduates earn $X” — not “Butler University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Butler University caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.