Program ranking · CIP 52.03 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Accounting

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Accounting (CIP 52.03) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$141,931
Highest accounting earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $88,393
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $88,393 median earnings for Accounting bachelor's (CIP 52.03) completers. Georgetown University leads at $141,931.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$141,931
#1 - Georgetown University: $88,393
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 1,171
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Georgetown University

$141,931
Bucknell University

$130,990
Santa Clara University

$130,087
Boston College

$126,461
Lehigh University

$125,874
University of Southern C…

$121,101
Villanova University

$120,207
Washington and Lee Unive…

$118,946
Fordham University

$117,024
George Washington Univer…

$116,795
University of Notre Dame

$115,909
College of the Holy Cross

$114,088
Syracuse University

$112,682
University of Richmond

$112,202
Loyola Marymount Univers…

$111,733

What this shows Accounting medians track CPA pipelines and regional firm markets - compare debt and completer counts before treating pay as program quality.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Georgetown University	DC	$141,931	$17,500	53
2	Bucknell University	PA	$130,990	$26,881	74
3	Santa Clara University	CA	$130,087	$18,625	67
4	Boston College	MA	$126,461	$18,000	123
5	Lehigh University	PA	$125,874	$23,179	58
6	University of Southern California	CA	$121,101	$16,491	160
7	Villanova University	PA	$120,207	$25,858	109
8	Washington and Lee University	VA	$118,946	$16,750	37
9	Fordham University	NY	$117,024	$23,000	93
10	George Washington University	DC	$116,795	$24,750	41
11	University of Notre Dame	IN	$115,909	$19,000	66
12	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$114,088	$27,000	28
13	Syracuse University	NY	$112,682	$27,000	101
14	University of Richmond	VA	$112,202	$20,500	34
15	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$111,733	$14,750	35
16	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$111,509	$23,894	61
17	Fairfield University	CT	$110,586	$26,633	121
18	University of San Diego	CA	$109,142	$24,969	62
19	Bentley University	MA	$108,343	$27,000	231
20	University of Connecticut	CT	$106,959	$21,500	125
21	Binghamton University	NY	$106,323	$17,500	171
22	Marist University	NY	$106,313	$22,946	41
23	Elon University	NC	$105,707	$20,000	56
24	University of Delaware	DE	$105,425	$26,301	97
25	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$105,143	$19,462	186
26	Southern Methodist University	TX	$103,675	$16,200	75
27	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	$103,662	$16,831	262
28	Quinnipiac University	CT	$103,533	$23,250	39
29	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$103,352	$27,000	42
30	Providence College	RI	$103,245	$27,000	67
31	Seton Hall University	NJ	$102,626	$24,413	47
32	University of Miami	FL	$102,344	$17,750	63
33	Chapman University	CA	$102,147	$20,875	47
34	Baylor University	TX	$102,011	$20,495	148
35	Texas Christian University	TX	$101,938	$17,778	116
36	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$101,808	$22,500	123
37	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$101,390	$20,277	119
38	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$101,098	$20,125	353
39	Adelphi University	NY	$100,895	$21,500	33
40	Pace University	NY	$100,797	$25,291	95
41	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$100,516	$22,867	137
42	Drexel University	PA	$100,317	$27,167	299
43	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	$99,528	$18,500	162
44	Marquette University	WI	$99,086	$25,000	77
45	Touro University	NY	$99,047	$11,000	64
46	James Madison University	VA	$98,767	$22,500	89
47	University at Albany	NY	$98,010	$22,186	117
48	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$97,667	$22,000	72
49	Bryant University	RI	$97,515	$26,668	107
50	Seattle University	WA	$97,466	$22,750	43
51	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$97,314	$15,000	154
52	University of Denver	CO	$96,903	$15,830	41
53	Trinity University	TX	$96,844	$23,550	39
54	Brigham Young University	UT	$96,632	$9,127	269
55	Gonzaga University	WA	$96,396	$24,774	68
56	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$96,109	$22,342	140
57	Michigan State University	MI	$96,093	$22,500	164
58	University of San Francisco	CA	$95,973	$20,500	37
59	Creighton University	NE	$95,837	$26,893	48
60	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	$95,415	$20,600	141
61	Stonehill College	MA	$94,984	$27,000	39
62	University of Florida	FL	$94,941	$17,750	140
63	University of Utah	UT	$94,253	$20,643	112
64	University of Arizona	AZ	$93,729	$21,550	139
65	University of Scranton	PA	$93,677	$27,000	63
66	DePaul University	IL	$93,592	$24,000	172
67	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia	PA	$93,585	$24,560	76
68	Butler University	IN	$93,584	$23,250	44
69	University of Georgia	GA	$93,260	$20,000	208
70	University of Iowa	IA	$92,767	$21,500	103
71	Hofstra University	NY	$92,530	$22,750	42
72	California State University-Northridge	CA	$92,329	$15,007	271
73	University at Buffalo	NY	$92,314	$17,900	98
74	Manhattan University	NY	$92,262	$24,246	31
75	Rider University	NJ	$91,950	$24,500	65
76	St. John's University-New York	NY	$91,878	$26,495	96
77	Sacred Heart University	CT	$91,777	$27,000	82
78	University of St Thomas	MN	$91,587	$22,750	70
79	Towson University	MD	$91,252	$19,000	117
80	Augustana College	IL	$91,143	$27,000	31
81	George Mason University	VA	$91,132	$20,000	182
82	Florida State University	FL	$91,056	$18,212	182
83	Saint Louis University	MO	$90,963	$26,000	31
84	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$90,850	$22,250	369
85	Samford University	AL	$90,572	-	25
86	University of Dayton	OH	$90,314	$26,973	58
87	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	$90,119	$19,500	99
88	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	$90,104	$11,000	608
89	Texas Tech University	TX	$89,891	$20,500	222
90	Case Western Reserve University	OH	$89,760	$25,000	37
91	California Lutheran University	CA	$89,573	$22,078	28
92	Salisbury University	MD	$89,535	$23,036	37
93	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$89,445	$20,500	98
94	Iona University	NY	$89,359	$25,624	51
95	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$89,087	$21,500	157
96	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$89,087	$21,500	151
97	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$89,087	$21,500	57
98	Brigham Young University-Idaho	ID	$88,548	$13,709	147
99	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$88,393	$14,828	123
100	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	$88,393	$14,828	91

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Accounting (CIP 52.03) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Accounting (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Accounting and Related Services (CIP 52.03) bachelor's programs - finance (CIP 52.08) and business administration (CIP 52.02) are ranked on their own pages.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.