Is Middlebury Worth It? The ROI Data on Middlebury College (2026)

Middlebury College's sticker tuition is $67,600 per year — among the highest in the liberal arts college tier. The average net price after aid is $31,483. Graduates earn $47,900 six years after enrollment and $76,310 at ten years. Median debt at graduation is $13,857, and the payback period is 6.4 years.

That 6.4-year payback needs context. Middlebury's graduation profile routes heavily through graduate school — law school, international affairs programs, environmental policy, and PhD programs in the sciences. At the 6-year mark, many Middlebury graduates are still in those programs, earning stipends or early associate salaries rather than mid-career wages. The 10-year figure of $76,310 captures where the actual career landing happens. If you use that number as your baseline, the payback case is substantially stronger.

The school scores 86/100 on CampusROI's composite scale — Strong Value, a step below the Exceptional Value tier occupied by Williams (96) and Amherst (90). The gap comes primarily from the earnings premium sub-score (0.328) and the net price, which is higher than peer schools at comparable selectivity levels. Middlebury is not a cheap school even after aid; it is a school where the long-run outcomes justify the cost for students who fit the profile.

The completeness of the data here is worth noting: Middlebury's 91.4% six-year completion rate and 89.5% three-year repayment rate are genuine strengths. Completion rate is a more reliable predictor of long-run outcomes than sticker price, and Middlebury's numbers place it in the top tier among liberal arts colleges nationally. The repayment rate tells you how many borrowers are actively paying down principal three years after leaving school — 89.5% is strong and suggests graduates are entering roles where loan service is manageable.

The Middlebury College CampusROI profile shows program-level earnings and debt grades for every major.

Middlebury by the Numbers

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.289 is manageable — below 0.30 is generally the threshold where debt becomes easily serviceable against earnings. Monthly payments of roughly $147 against $47,900 in year-6 earnings consume about 3.7% of income. That is workable, particularly given the trajectory toward $76,310 by year 10.

Cost by Income Bracket

The income-bracket table reveals something worth examining: the $30,001–$48,000 bracket pays less than the under-$30,000 bracket. That inversion is a data artifact of how Middlebury's aid packaging interacts with assets and expected family contribution in those two bands — some families in the lower bracket have assets that raise their EFC even at low income.

For low-income families, Middlebury's net prices are higher than what Williams and Amherst offer at equivalent income levels — Williams provides exceptional aid for families under $75,000. Students in the lowest-income band should run the net price calculator at multiple schools and compare package details before committing. Middlebury's net price in the $30,001–$48,000 bracket ($8,229) is competitive; the under-$30,000 figure ($12,723) is not as generous as the most aid-intensive LACs.

For families above $110,000, the $49,824 average represents close to full cost. At that price point, the investment depends heavily on which programs the student enters.

What Graduates Earn

Middlebury's major-level earnings data shows the split between the school's high-performing career tracks and its humanities and environmental programs:

Economics is Middlebury's anchor program — 106 graduates per year, $85,879 at one year, and $123,477 at four years. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.227 earns a straight-A grade. Students targeting finance or consulting who want the Middlebury liberal arts environment get a program with strong quantitative orientation and genuine placement in those fields.

Computer science (57 graduates, $80,158 at one year, $128,471 at four years) is the school's second-strongest earnings track. One-year earnings are below larger research universities with deeper tech recruiting relationships, but the four-year trajectory is competitive. Students choosing Middlebury for CS trade some employer recruiting density for an integrated liberal arts curriculum — potentially an advantage in product, policy-adjacent tech, or research roles.

Neuroscience is the clearest example of the grad-school routing effect: $44,585 at one year rising to $90,917 at four years is the largest single-program year-1-to-year-4 jump in the Middlebury dataset. That trajectory reflects graduates completing medical school, PhD programs, or clinical residencies. The B+ grade reflects the 6-year data, not the long-term value of medicine or research careers.

Natural Resources Conservation ($46,758 at one year, $53,518 at four years) reflects Middlebury's genuine environmental identity. The school's sustainability programs and partnerships with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies provide institutional depth that the earnings numbers understate. Students choosing this major for environmental mission rather than income optimization should weigh that context accordingly.

Peer Comparison

Middlebury sits in NESCAC with Williams and Amherst, the two strongest performers among New England liberal arts colleges on CampusROI's composite:

- Williams: ROI 96, net price $17,716, 10-year earnings $88,665, payback 3.9 years - Amherst: ROI 90, net price $23,367, 10-year earnings $77,644, payback 5.5 years - Middlebury: ROI 86, net price $31,483, 10-year earnings $76,310, payback 6.4 years

Amherst's 10-year earnings ($77,644) and Middlebury's ($76,310) are close — only $1,334 apart. The score gap between them (90 vs. 86) comes primarily from net price: Amherst is nearly $8,000 cheaper per year for the average student. For students with genuine offers from both, the financial aid comparison matters more than the earnings difference.

For students who want Ivy-level earnings context, see our Dartmouth analysis for a comparison with a school that shares Middlebury's rural New England setting and small-campus identity but carries the full Ivy earnings premium ($93,280 at 10 years vs. Middlebury's $76,310).

Middlebury's most distinctive academic assets — language programs, international affairs infrastructure, and environmental studies — are not fully captured in these earnings numbers. Students who align with those programs are making a different calculation than the raw earnings data implies.

For the Williams comparison in more detail, our Williams ROI analysis covers how that school's exceptional aid policy reshapes the financial equation at every income bracket. The earnings story at Williams is more muted than its score implies (6-year earnings of $51,400), and Middlebury's $76,310 at 10 years actually exceeds Williams's $88,665 trajectory when adjusted for program mix — though the net price and payback period gaps remain real. Middlebury is worth reading next to Williams rather than purely against it.

The Verdict

Middlebury scores 86/100 — Strong Value. The honest read: this is a school whose financial case depends substantially on who you are and what you study.

Worth it for: - Students targeting economics, finance, or consulting who want the liberal arts context. Economics graduates at Middlebury ($85,879 at one year, $123,477 at four years) produce strong outcomes. - Students drawn to international affairs, language programs, or environmental policy who understand the grad-school routing in those tracks. Middlebury's institutional infrastructure for those fields is genuine. - Families in the $30,000–$75,000 income range whose net price comes in at $8,000–$17,500. At those prices, the 10-year earnings of $76,310 make the investment case clearly. - Applicants at the edge of Williams and Amherst's admission ranges who want a similar NESCAC experience. Middlebury admits 10.75% of applicants — selective, but more accessible than Williams.

Think harder if: - You're a humanities-focused student in a high-income family paying close to $49,824/year. The earnings data for English, History, and similar programs doesn't support that price point without a clear graduate school plan. - You want direct-to-career tech or business programs without the liberal arts framework. Middlebury's CS program is solid, but its employer recruiting relationships are smaller than research universities with larger CS pipelines. - You prefer an urban environment. Middlebury, Vermont is rural. This is not a drawback for students who value that setting, but career-year internship access requires planning that an urban campus doesn't. - You're comparing net prices seriously: Williams's financial aid for low-income families is materially more generous than Middlebury's. The comparison is worth running explicitly.

Data sources: College Scorecard, IPEDS, as of 2024.