Compare Top Colleges by Salary Score™
GradReports has compared the salaries of over 4.6 million college graduates to determine our Salary Score for over 2,281 schools and 885 degrees. See how colleges stack up.
2021 Best Colleges by Salary Score™
We ranked the best colleges for a bachelor’s degree based on overall bachelor’s Salary Score from a pool of over 900 eligible colleges. Each college’s Salary Score is based on a comparison of alumni salaries across the same program at each school and weighted by student enrollment in each program. Data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard and reflects median alumni earnings in the first year after graduation for students who received federal financial aid. View our methodology.
| Rank | School | Annual Tuition | Salary Score™ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | $51,925 | 99.54 | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $53,790 | 99.13 | |
| Yale University | $55,500 | 98.90 | |
| University of Pennsylvania | $57,770 | 98.85 | |
| Dartmouth College | $57,638 | 98.84 | |
| Georgetown University | $56,058 | 98.68 | |
| Santa Clara University | $53,634 | 98.23 | |
| Carnegie Mellon University | $57,119 | 97.66 | |
| Stanford University | $53,529 | 97.52 | |
| Dominican University of California | $46,940 | 97.21 |
Press Mentions
GradReports understands that students must trust the sites they are using in their education decision making process. We are dedicated to keeping you updated with new data, insights, and trends. GradReports rankings and research has been mentioned in several publications, including:
Optimal Choice Colleges
Our list of Optimal Choice colleges highlights schools that offer high alumni salaries and low tuition, meaning they have a Salary Score above the 60th percentile and below-average tuition. We researched the salary and tuition information of over 1,700 schools to find the colleges that have strong returns without the high price tag.
Best Colleges by Major
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Georgetown University | $83,100 |
| #2 | Santa Clara University | $65,300 |
| #3 | Fordham University | $65,300 |
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | $76,900 |
| #2 | Carnegie Mellon University | $76,800 |
| #3 | University of California - Berkeley | $76,600 |
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Brown University | $141,100 |
| #2 | Carnegie Mellon University | $138,900 |
| #3 | Harvard University | $128,900 |
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Sonoma State University | $110,300 |
| #2 | California State University - East Bay | $109,500 |
| #3 | California State University - Sacramento | $106,600 |
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Tufts University | $44,600 |
| #2 | Barnard College | $44,000 |
| #3 | Cornell University | $43,300 |
| College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Syracuse University | $44,600 |
| #2 | Gonzaga University | $44,400 |
| #3 | University of Southern California | $43,800 |
Trends & Insights
Our expert editorials provide a deep-dive into relevant and timely higher education topics, trends, and questions. All of our articles are informed by our proprietary data, investigative research, and thoughtful insights.
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