$22K

Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Utah can put an extra $22,000 a year in your pocket. That’s the gap between the average salaries of a Utahn with a four-year degree ($65,239) and a neighbor who stopped at high school ($43,090). The number comes from a Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute brief measuring what higher education delivers in this state. Just 2 percent of Utahns with a bachelor’s degree are unemployed, compared with 3.7 percent of those with only a high school diploma. More than three-quarters of 2025 graduates from the Utah System of Higher Education left college with credentials tied to high-wage, high-demand jobs.