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COLLEGE RANKINGS
US Colleges with the Highest Graduate Earnings
Tuition is an investment; this list shows the return. Median earnings of former students 10 years after entry, straight from the US Department of Education — no survey bias, no self-reporting.
Methodology: Median earnings of federally-aided students 10 years after entry (College Scorecard). Colleges with fewer than 1,000 undergraduates excluded. Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard. Always verify current figures on each school's official site.
| # | College | Location | Median earnings (10 yr) | Acceptance | Tuition (out-of-state) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts | $143,372 | 4.5% | $62,396 |
| 2 | Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences | Boston, Massachusetts | $125,557 | 85.2% | $40,530 |
| 3 | Stanford University | Stanford, California | $124,080 | 3.6% | $65,910 |
| 4 | Babson College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | $123,938 | 17.1% | $57,152 |
| 5 | Bentley University | Waltham, Massachusetts | $120,959 | 45.1% | $61,000 |
| 6 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | $114,862 | 11.7% | $66,246 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $111,371 | 5.4% | $68,686 |
| 8 | Princeton University | Princeton, New Jersey | $110,066 | 4.6% | $62,688 |
| 9 | Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, California | $109,183 | 48.0% | $61,293 |
| 10 | Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, New Jersey | $108,772 | 47.6% | $63,462 |
| 11 | Lehigh University | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | $105,584 | 25.9% | $64,980 |
| 12 | Claremont McKenna College | Claremont, California | $104,736 | 9.6% | $67,980 |
| 13 | Cornell University | Ithaca, New York | $104,043 | 8.8% | $69,314 |
| 14 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts | $103,937 | 16.4% | $70,702 |
| 15 | Georgetown University | Washington, Washington, D.C. | $103,494 | 12.9% | $68,017 |
| 16 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester, Massachusetts | $103,470 | 60.2% | $60,965 |
| 17 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | Atlanta, Georgia | $102,772 | 14.1% | $34,484 |
| 18 | West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County | Anaheim, California | $102,672 | — | $22,506 |
| 19 | West Coast University-Texas | Richardson, Texas | $102,672 | — | $36,854 |
| 20 | West Coast University-Ontario | Ontario, California | $102,672 | — | $36,854 |
| 21 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, New York | $102,491 | 4.0% | $71,845 |
| 22 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy, New York | $102,051 | 63.5% | $64,081 |
| 23 | Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | $101,817 | 3.6% | $61,676 |
| 24 | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Terre Haute, Indiana | $101,253 | 76.9% | $58,649 |
| 25 | Yale University | New Haven, Connecticut | $100,533 | 3.9% | $67,250 |
| 26 | Villanova University | Villanova, Pennsylvania | $100,423 | 27.0% | $67,776 |
| 27 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, Indiana | $99,980 | 11.3% | $65,025 |
| 28 | Duke University | Durham, North Carolina | $97,800 | 5.7% | $68,758 |
| 29 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, New Hampshire | $97,434 | 5.4% | $68,268 |
| 30 | Colorado School of Mines | Golden, Colorado | $97,335 | 60.7% | $45,824 |
| 31 | SUNY Maritime College | Throggs Neck, New York | $95,951 | 72.4% | $19,159 |
| 32 | Kettering University | Flint, Michigan | $94,823 | 78.7% | $48,470 |
| 33 | Washington and Lee University | Lexington, Virginia | $94,810 | 14.0% | $68,045 |
| 34 | Bucknell University | Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | $93,807 | 28.9% | $67,812 |
| 35 | Brown University | Providence, Rhode Island | $93,487 | 5.4% | $71,412 |
| 36 | Northeastern University | Boston, Massachusetts | $92,538 | 5.2% | $66,162 |
| 37 | Northeastern University Professional Programs | Boston, Massachusetts | $92,538 | — | — |
| 38 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, California | $92,498 | 9.8% | $72,097 |
| 39 | University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, California | $92,446 | 11.0% | $50,547 |
| 40 | Chamberlain University-Illinois | Addison, Illinois | $92,405 | 82.6% | $21,536 |
| 41 | Chamberlain University-Texas | Houston, Texas | $92,405 | 83.9% | $20,380 |
| 42 | Chamberlain University-Georgia | Sandy Springs, Georgia | $92,405 | 91.4% | $20,515 |
| 43 | Chamberlain University-New Jersey | North Brunswick, New Jersey | $92,405 | 100.0% | $20,785 |
| 44 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | Lubbock, Texas | $92,348 | — | — |
| 45 | University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois | $91,885 | 4.5% | $70,662 |
| 46 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee | $91,565 | 5.9% | $67,498 |
| 47 | Lafayette College | Easton, Pennsylvania | $91,410 | 31.4% | $65,398 |
| 48 | George Washington University | Washington, Washington, D.C. | $90,873 | 47.1% | $67,710 |
| 49 | Trinity College | Hartford, Connecticut | $90,779 | 29.3% | $70,770 |
| 50 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo, California | $90,768 | 31.3% | $34,665 |
| 51 | College of the Holy Cross | Worcester, Massachusetts | $90,543 | 17.6% | $64,500 |
| 52 | Bryant University | Smithfield, Rhode Island | $90,008 | 65.5% | $52,677 |
| 53 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, California | $89,812 | 61.7% | $60,492 |
| 54 | Rice University | Houston, Texas | $89,718 | 8.0% | $64,144 |
| 55 | Clarkson University | Potsdam, New York | $89,696 | 77.4% | $59,398 |
| 56 | Northwestern University | Evanston, Illinois | $89,363 | 7.7% | $68,322 |
| 57 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | $89,070 | 58.9% | $50,480 |
| 58 | Fairfield University | Fairfield, Connecticut | $88,794 | 33.3% | $58,350 |
| 59 | Williams College | Williamstown, Massachusetts | $88,665 | 8.3% | $68,560 |
| 60 | Union College | Schenectady, New York | $88,604 | 43.9% | $69,039 |
| 61 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, Ohio | $87,989 | 36.5% | $66,608 |
| 62 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Maryland | $87,555 | 6.4% | $65,230 |
| 63 | Providence College | Providence, Rhode Island | $87,054 | 50.9% | $63,550 |
| 64 | Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $86,881 | 88.8% | $53,260 |
| 65 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | Charlottesville, Virginia | $86,863 | 16.8% | $59,512 |
| 66 | University of San Diego | San Diego, California | $86,522 | 52.4% | $59,486 |
| 67 | Manhattan University | Riverdale, New York | $86,316 | 78.9% | $53,400 |
| 68 | Washington University in St Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | $86,182 | 12.1% | $65,790 |
| 69 | Fordham University | Bronx, New York | $85,569 | 59.3% | $64,915 |
| 70 | Colgate University | Hamilton, New York | $85,139 | 13.9% | $70,306 |
| 71 | University of California-San Diego | La Jolla, California | $84,943 | 26.7% | $50,958 |
| 72 | Wellesley College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | $84,803 | 14.1% | $67,176 |
| 73 | Dominican University of California | San Rafael, California | $84,713 | 83.5% | $52,161 |
| 74 | Drexel University | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $84,648 | 79.4% | $62,412 |
| 75 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, New Jersey | $84,276 | 65.1% | $37,664 |
| 76 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide | Daytona Beach, Florida | $84,131 | 57.9% | $12,097 |
| 77 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach | Daytona Beach, Florida | $84,131 | 64.8% | $44,249 |
| 78 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott | Prescott, Arizona | $84,131 | 76.6% | $44,149 |
| 79 | Quinnipiac University | Hamden, Connecticut | $83,759 | 72.2% | $55,480 |
| 80 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, Michigan | $83,648 | 15.6% | $60,946 |
| 81 | Boston University | Boston, Massachusetts | $83,238 | 11.1% | $68,102 |
| 82 | Tufts University | Medford, Massachusetts | $83,214 | 11.5% | $70,704 |
| 83 | Missouri University of Science and Technology | Rolla, Missouri | $82,957 | 72.5% | $33,248 |
| 84 | Pepperdine University | Malibu, California | $82,939 | 62.9% | $69,918 |
| 85 | University of Maryland-College Park | College Park, Maryland | $82,860 | 44.8% | $41,186 |
| 86 | University of Portland | Portland, Oregon | $82,804 | 89.2% | $58,100 |
| 87 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick, Maine | $82,735 | 7.1% | $67,832 |
| 88 | Wentworth Institute of Technology | Boston, Massachusetts | $82,721 | 91.2% | $42,884 |
| 89 | Loyola University Maryland | Baltimore, Maryland | $82,652 | 75.5% | $57,150 |
| 90 | Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago, Illinois | $82,592 | 54.9% | $52,386 |
| 91 | University of California-Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California | $82,511 | 9.0% | $49,403 |
| 92 | New York University | New York, New York | $82,509 | 9.2% | $62,796 |
| 93 | Massachusetts Maritime Academy | Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts | $82,392 | 94.7% | $23,722 |
| 94 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Blacksburg, Virginia | $81,698 | 54.8% | $37,764 |
| 95 | Davidson College | Davidson, North Carolina | $81,400 | 13.4% | $64,410 |
| 96 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, Illinois | $81,054 | 42.4% | $35,124 |
| 97 | Ohio Northern University | Ada, Ohio | $80,928 | 74.4% | $39,800 |
| 98 | University of California-Davis | Davis, California | $80,838 | 41.8% | $50,974 |
| 99 | University of California-Irvine | Irvine, California | $80,735 | 28.6% | $49,922 |
| 100 | Binghamton University | Vestal, New York | $80,596 | 38.6% | $30,447 |
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