Top Earners 2026

Highest median salaries 10 years after enrollment

Data updated How we rank collegesBy College Index
View the top 100
🏆 Overall💰 Salaries📊 Value🏷️ Affordable🎓 Academics🏈 Athletics🎉 Social Life🌍 Diversity🔥 Buzz🛡️ Safety☀️ Weather⛪ Religious🎓 Graduation💳 Low Debt🔄 Retention🚀 First-Gen✊ HBCUs🏙️ Urban🌾 Rural🏫 Public🏛️ Private🎯 Higher-Admit Value
How this ranking is calculated

Ranks schools by the median earnings of their graduates measured approximately 10 years after first enrolling, giving a long-term view of financial outcomes.

Source measurement years vary and may precede the ranking edition. The update date records the published dataset, not when every outcome was measured.

See exact overall weights and a worked example

What drives the score

  • Median graduate earnings 10 years after enrollment
  • Earnings relative to the national median for all college graduates

Data sources

  • Federal government earnings outcome data linked to student financial aid records

Earnings reflect graduates who received federal financial aid and may not represent all students. Schools with very small graduating classes may have less reliable estimates.

Top 100 salaries results

Sorted by College Index's salaries score. The displayed list index rescales the leading score to 100; equal rounded scores may have different sequential ranks.

Rank
School
Composite Index
1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA

100.0
2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

79.5
3

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

76.7
4

Babson College

Wellesley, MA

74.4
5

Bentley University

Waltham, MA

71.2
6

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Boston, MA

68.9
7

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

68.8
8

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

68.8
9

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

68.2
10

Stevens Institute of Technology

Hoboken, NJ

67.7
11

West Coast University-Texas

Richardson, TX

67.7
12

West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County

Anaheim, CA

67.7
13

West Coast University-Ontario

Ontario, CA

67.7
14

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

67.1
15

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA

65.7
16

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA

64.8
17

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Atlanta, GA

64.8
18

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

64.6
19

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY

64.2
20

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

63.7
21

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, MA

63.1
22

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Terre Haute, IN

62.6
23

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

62.3
24

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

62.2
25

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

61.8
26

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

61.6
27

Duke University

Durham, NC

61.1
28

Yale University

New Haven, CT

60.5
29

Colorado School of Mines

Golden, CO

59.7
30

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

59.5
31

SUNY Maritime College

Throggs Neck, NY

59.4
32

Chamberlain University-Illinois

Addison, IL

58.3
33

Chamberlain University-Texas

Houston, TX

58.3
34

Chamberlain University-Georgia

Sandy Springs, GA

58.3
35

Chamberlain University-New Jersey

North Brunswick, NJ

58.3
36

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Lubbock, TX

58.1
37

Kettering University

Flint, MI

57.5
38

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

57.1
39

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

56.5
40

Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA

56.5
41

Brown University

Providence, RI

56.4
42

Lafayette College

Easton, PA

56.2
43

Washington and Lee University

Lexington, VA

55.9
44

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

55.7
45

Northeastern University Professional Programs

Boston, MA

55.7
46

Rice University

Houston, TX

55.1
47

University of California-Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

54.2
48

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA

54.0
49

Clarkson University

Potsdam, NY

54.0
50

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

53.7
51

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

53.3
52

Florida Polytechnic University

Lakeland, FL

53.0
53

Washington University in St Louis

St. Louis, MO

52.9
54

Milwaukee School of Engineering

Milwaukee, WI

52.8
55

Case Western Reserve University

Cleveland, OH

52.6
56

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Buzzards Bay, MA

52.4
57

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA

52.3
58

Fairfield University

Fairfield, CT

52.1
59

George Washington University

Washington, DC

52.0
60

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA

51.2
61

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

51.2
62

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

51.0
63

University of Virginia-Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

50.7
64

Trinity College

Hartford, CT

50.3
65

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI

50.0
66

Molloy University

Rockville Centre, NY

49.6
67

Dominican University of California

San Rafael, CA

49.5
68

Bryant University

Smithfield, RI

49.5
69

Providence College

Providence, RI

49.5
70

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

49.0
71

Wentworth Institute of Technology

Boston, MA

48.8
72

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Newark, NJ

48.5
73

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

48.4
74

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, IL

48.3
75

Fordham University

Bronx, NY

48.3
76

Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

48.1
77

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Rolla, MO

47.8
78

Tufts University

Medford, MA

47.5
79

Union College

Schenectady, NY

47.5
80

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

47.4
81

University of Maryland-College Park

College Park, MD

47.1
82

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA

47.1
83

University of Portland

Portland, OR

47.1
84

University of California-San Diego

La Jolla, CA

47.0
85

Manhattan University

Riverdale, NY

47.0
86

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY

46.8
87

Linfield University

McMinnville, OR

46.6
88

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott

Prescott, AZ

46.5
89

Quinnipiac University

Hamden, CT

46.5
90

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach, FL

46.5
91

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide

Daytona Beach, FL

46.5
92

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA

46.4
93

Boston University

Boston, MA

46.3
94

Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI

46.0
95

Pepperdine University

Malibu, CA

45.9
96

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY

45.7
97

Loyola University Maryland

Baltimore, MD

45.5
98

New York University

New York, NY

45.5
99

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

45.1
100

Scripps College

Claremont, CA

45.0

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