3:01 am ET
Sep 12, 2013



    • Oh you went to Harvey Mudd?

    • This report seems flawed because the service academies all have the same starting salaries for the O-1 paygrade across the board.

    • This article data seems flawed because as an Academy grad, I know that the O-1 paygrade is the same across all three services. There shouldn't be any difference in starting salary.

    • It should be noted that, according to the PayScale article, the figures shown for service academy graduates are for the first job they receive after their mandatory five-year commitment.

    • The article is not flawed when it comes to the starting salaries across different service academies. The starting salaries are the same, however it is also incorporating BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing). BAH is specific to current rental/real estate prices around the base/post's' zip code. Naval Bases are usually in nicer places on the coast and that leads to a larger median salary for Naval Academy graduates. Air Force Bases are usually out in the desert and that is why you are seeing a much lower median salary.

    • To reiterate, this article (it's actually CNNMoney: http://www.wmtw.com/news/money/Which-college-will-land-you-the-highest-paying-job/-/8791814/21897744/-/10yl7v4/-/index.html#comments), which pulls from the PayScale article, explicity states that the figures for service academy grads is for their first post-military commitment jobs.

      A Navy O-1 pilot (which would receive $125/month as flight incentive pay) with dependents (higher BAH) living in San Francisco, which not only has a very high BAH but a cost-of-living allowance as well, would be making $76,584 a year, which is not even at the average shown in this article ($77,100).

    • Median salaries are a bit of a joke. If you just throw a bunch of a salaries on a number line and pick the absolute middle that's what that represents. It doesn't distinguish between outliers or the weights of the numbers. Waste of internet bandwidth with misleading statistics.

    • I, too, was curious as to the differences in the Academy graduates' pay but I think Jovan is correct in his view that BAH makes the difference. BAH in San Diego for a Naval Academy grad is going to be much higher than BAH in Ft Polk, LA for the West Point grad or North Dakota for an Air Force grad. I don't know if it makes up a 13K difference but it is a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy. Go Navy! Beat Army!

    • Green Navy ensign makes $77K? Glance at the 2013 military pay charts. How could they possibly come up with such a ridiculous number.

    • It should be noted that the data from USNA, USMA, and USAFA were taken from the individual's first "civilian" job after an average of 5 years of military service gaining experience in leadership, administration, initiative and some very technical skills as well. Not a real comparison. This has nothing o do with O1 salary, with or without BAH.

    • They should really post the media salaries of the top 25% of each school's graduates. Schools with strong liberal arts studies don't do well in these rankings since English Majors don't earn much...

    • BAH for an O1 in San Diego is about $25K bringing the "starting salary" for a newly graduated Ensign to about $67K. However, counting locality BAH is not really an accurate measure because the whole purpose of locality rates is to absorb the unusually higher costs of living in those areas. Also, how many new Ensigns are going to get posted to San Diego or other high cost areas? Basic pay should be the single measure. WWATMD mentions the data was taken for a first civilian job after 5 years of experience. There is nothing about that in the article. The article clearly states "starting salaries."

    • The one concept the article misses is the value of the network. The school name and recognition do matter when it comes to the support from other graduates and how that support translates into a job or at least an entry into the company. USNA and other academy graduates have a strong network simply because of the shared experience and sacrifice that few other universities can match. Big names like Harvard, MIT, USC can have name recognition, but there is a different level of support from academy alumni.

      As far as starting salaries, the differences could based on locality pay (San Diego is a Navy town and has higher housing rates than most whereas most Army and Air Force bases are in relatively cheaper housing areas.

      The only unfortunate result of this article is the misconception that going to a service academy is to seek higher pay. If a candidate doesn't understand service and sacrifice, they will find they made a bad choice and will most likely quit. The pay may be good, and a steady pay check enticing, but they are a small in comparison to the prospect of deploying and long hours to achieve mission success.

    • Navy rocks!

    • "[M]y degree in Public Relations comes from the Number 1 public undergraduate PR program in the nation" - sounds like something straight out of an Onion article about clueless Millennials. The proof is in the pudding, honey. If employers won't hire from your school, it's not a good school.

    • I am confused as to why Navy, Army and Air Force academy graduates show different annual incomes since all military pay scales are the same. For example,0-1, 0-2, 0-3, all junior officer ranks earn exactly the same base pay. Hazardous duty pay would increase any one of them but all the same. Where does the difference happen?


    • While doing research for a Dartmouth meeting I checked my 2008 WSJ report on salaries by college and found the Median Mid-Career salary for Dartmouth grads to be $134,000 that year. The same study for 2013 doesn't have Dartmouth in the top ten where the lowest salary is $119,000. Has the structure of the study changed? Over the five years has the Mid Career salaries of Dartmouth alums gone DOWN $15,000? Have I lost the ability to add, subtract and follow a chart?

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