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Program ranking · CIP 45.02 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Anthropology

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Anthropology (CIP 45.02) 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.

$78,768
Highest anthropology earnings
92
Colleges ranked
$31,186
#92 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $31,186 median earnings for Anthropology bachelor's (CIP 45.02) completers. Emory University leads at $78,768.

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

$78,768
#1 - Emory University
$31,186
#92 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
458
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.

Top 15 anthropology programs by median completer earnings

Anthropology bachelor's (CIP 45.02) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Anthropology medians often reflect teaching, research, and nonprofit pipelines - debt still matters when graduate school is common.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 92

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 Emory University GA $78,768 $21,515 52
2 Washington University in St Louis MO $71,018 $15,000 91
3 Dartmouth College NH $70,846 $14,363 33
4 Fordham University NY $66,562 $22,562 40
5 George Washington University DC $65,172 $26,000 35
6 University of California-Berkeley CA $64,359 $12,572 104
7 Sonoma State University CA $62,674 $17,614 29
8 San Francisco State University CA $61,300 $16,500 37
9 James Madison University VA $60,841 $20,500 25
10 CUNY Lehman College NY $60,488 $10,663 85
11 Loyola University Chicago IL $59,024 - 30
12 University of California-San Diego CA $56,982 $13,500 61
13 Tulane University of Louisiana LA $56,847 $19,500 47
14 University of California-Davis CA $56,836 $14,000 101
15 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $56,589 $12,500 82
16 University of California-Santa Barbara CA $56,238 $18,000 140
17 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus OK $55,399 $21,920 32
18 University of Colorado Boulder CO $55,217 $18,583 60
19 University of Connecticut CT $54,907 $17,500 26
20 University of California-Los Angeles CA $54,905 $14,579 208
21 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $54,773 $16,166 38
22 California State University-Fullerton CA $54,092 $16,419 40
23 San Diego State University CA $53,991 $12,886 32
24 Binghamton University NY $53,460 $20,587 33
25 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $53,212 $11,715 51
26 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $53,042 $13,997 49
27 University of Maryland-College Park MD $53,038 $20,070 26
28 University of California-Santa Cruz CA $52,315 $16,035 110
29 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $52,227 $20,554 46
30 University of Illinois Chicago IL $51,907 $21,500 29
31 University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $51,811 $12,500 61
32 CUNY Hunter College NY $51,787 $8,772 35
33 Southern New Hampshire University NH $51,100 $22,164 96
34 University of California-Irvine CA $50,850 $16,000 51
35 Western Washington University WA $50,703 $21,727 63
36 Baylor University TX $50,699 $27,000 31
37 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $50,640 $27,000 27
38 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $50,055 $20,500 73
39 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $49,597 $20,000 108
40 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $49,597 $20,000 76
41 University of Missouri-Columbia MO $49,351 $15,430 29
42 California State University-Fresno CA $49,187 $15,000 30
43 University of Nevada-Reno NV $48,607 $22,000 35
44 The University of Texas at Austin TX $48,486 $19,809 52
45 California State University-Sacramento CA $48,367 $18,750 60
46 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $48,010 $20,500 36
47 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM $47,958 $19,600 29
48 University of Florida FL $47,348 $14,491 146
49 California State University-Long Beach CA $47,166 $11,229 76
50 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA $46,328 $24,667 64
51 University of Oregon OR $45,920 $22,000 58
52 North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC $45,890 $23,953 27
53 University of California-Riverside CA $45,821 $21,250 110
54 Western Carolina University NC $45,809 $20,732 48
55 University of North Texas TX $45,664 $20,500 28
56 Oregon State University OR $45,184 $25,000 46
57 Ball State University IN $44,371 $22,250 25
58 University of South Florida FL $44,283 $19,027 57
59 Central Washington University WA $44,089 $20,500 33
60 University of Arkansas AR $43,930 $22,333 27
61 University of Arizona AZ $43,885 $21,869 42
62 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $43,554 $15,875 30
63 University of Utah UT $43,492 $23,500 64
64 California State University-Northridge CA $43,192 $15,924 46
65 California State University-Chico CA $43,153 $18,263 42
66 Colorado State University-Fort Collins CO $43,129 $21,500 62
67 University of Massachusetts-Boston MA $43,053 $22,750 27
68 Washington State University WA $42,888 $17,000 31
69 Grand Valley State University MI $42,796 $27,000 25
70 Florida State University FL $42,791 $19,250 32
71 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC $42,758 $18,000 26
72 University of Georgia GA $42,667 $20,003 36
73 SUNY College at Geneseo NY $42,216 - 34
74 University of Houston TX $42,146 $19,125 28
75 Appalachian State University NC $42,107 $21,531 45
76 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN $41,767 $26,949 60
77 Portland State University OR $41,759 $17,937 34
78 Michigan State University MI $41,512 $27,750 27
79 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX $41,472 $18,625 37
80 California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt CA $41,464 $17,986 28
81 East Carolina University NC $40,927 $26,375 28
82 Texas State University TX $40,706 $23,250 80
83 University of Nevada-Las Vegas NV $40,630 $17,086 62
84 The University of Montana MT $40,550 $25,000 36
85 Georgia State University GA $40,306 $21,125 25
86 Northern Arizona University AZ $39,597 $21,819 35
87 University of Central Florida FL $39,319 $18,787 87
88 University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC $39,112 $26,000 38
89 Utah State University UT $38,051 $17,500 26
90 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA $37,443 $9,500 32
91 University of North Carolina Wilmington NC $33,461 $22,987 27
92 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $31,186 - 28

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Anthropology (CIP 45.02) 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 Anthropology (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 Anthropology (CIP 45.02) bachelor's programs - sociology (CIP 45.11) and archaeology-adjacent majors are ranked separately when demand warrants.

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.