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Program ranking · CIP 52.08 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Finance

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Finance (CIP 52.08) 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.

$202,069
Highest finance earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$88,623
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $88,623 median earnings for Finance bachelor's (CIP 52.08) completers. University of Pennsylvania leads at $202,069.

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

$202,069
#1 - University of Pennsylvania
$88,623
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
741
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 finance programs by median completer earnings

Finance bachelor's (CIP 52.08) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Finance medians concentrate at research universities and coastal markets - compare debt and completer counts before treating pay as program quality.

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

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of Pennsylvania PA $202,069 $12,999 398
2 Washington University in St Louis MO $185,551 $19,500 181
3 University of Notre Dame IN $160,313 $19,000 260
4 Georgetown University DC $152,744 $15,750 214
5 Boston College MA $147,746 $18,000 325
6 Wake Forest University NC $145,996 $19,500 147
7 Fordham University NY $141,860 $26,870 229
8 American University DC $134,332 $22,625 75
9 Southern Methodist University TX $133,852 $19,439 290
10 The University of Texas at Austin TX $132,075 $20,500 407
11 Villanova University PA $131,996 $26,000 231
12 Brigham Young University UT $129,879 $11,625 198
13 Tulane University of Louisiana LA $129,850 $21,250 249
14 Lehigh University PA $127,210 $23,250 197
15 George Washington University DC $126,638 $18,148 119
16 Syracuse University NY $120,274 $27,000 227
17 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $119,978 $19,500 301
18 Santa Clara University CA $118,737 $14,490 160
19 Binghamton University NY $115,013 $15,363 128
20 Bentley University MA $113,795 $25,000 244
21 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $112,319 $16,671 307
22 Texas Christian University TX $111,304 $19,000 212
23 University of Maryland-College Park MD $110,648 $19,500 376
24 Miami University-Oxford OH $110,406 $21,788 348
25 University of Miami FL $110,240 $14,500 256
26 Loyola Marymount University CA $109,303 $19,500 115
27 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $107,207 $20,181 463
28 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus OK $106,719 $19,500 196
29 Fairfield University CT $106,663 $27,000 183
30 University of Florida FL $106,153 $16,681 248
31 James Madison University VA $104,926 $19,500 140
32 Menlo College CA $103,918 $23,250 28
33 University of San Francisco CA $103,605 $24,394 109
34 Elon University NC $103,426 $19,500 152
35 Providence College RI $103,021 $27,000 207
36 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $102,902 $21,500 294
37 Baylor University TX $102,812 $21,500 181
38 University of Connecticut CT $102,286 $19,500 253
39 Michigan State University MI $102,017 $22,500 361
40 Illinois Wesleyan University IL $101,609 $26,000 29
41 University of Delaware DE $101,605 $23,495 310
42 University of Scranton PA $100,962 $26,423 46
43 University of Arizona AZ $100,938 $19,500 219
44 University of Utah UT $100,793 $18,408 175
45 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $100,695 $20,620 418
46 Rutgers University-Newark NJ $100,695 $20,620 347
47 Rutgers University-Camden NJ $100,695 $20,620 54
48 Manhattan University NY $100,376 $26,323 45
49 Southern Utah University UT $100,149 - 32
50 Seattle University WA $99,791 $23,000 89
51 University of Denver CO $99,135 $19,500 135
52 St. John's University-New York NY $98,970 $26,000 131
53 Lake Forest College IL $98,583 $27,000 30
54 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $98,279 $20,500 328
55 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $97,986 $19,500 813
56 Marquette University WI $97,719 $21,643 175
57 University of Tulsa OK $97,533 $20,250 41
58 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $97,452 $13,856 295
59 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus WA $97,452 $13,856 58
60 University of Georgia GA $97,364 $17,500 544
61 Adelphi University NY $97,175 $25,000 27
62 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $96,995 $20,500 289
63 Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia PA $96,993 $23,925 128
64 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $96,714 $25,000 449
65 Pennsylvania State University-World Campus PA $96,714 $25,000 89
66 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College PA $96,714 $25,000 40
67 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg PA $96,714 $25,000 37
68 University of Dayton OH $95,925 $22,500 186
69 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College LA $95,302 $18,500 148
70 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA $95,087 $21,750 244
71 Roger Williams University RI $94,919 $24,500 41
72 Sacred Heart University CT $94,733 $25,531 114
73 CUNY Queens College NY $94,526 - 78
74 Muhlenberg College PA $94,403 $26,733 39
75 Utah Valley University UT $93,858 $10,949 181
76 University of St Thomas MN $93,720 $25,485 175
77 DePaul University IL $93,719 $22,000 247
78 Stonehill College MA $93,693 $26,000 45
79 Saint Louis University MO $93,647 $20,500 73
80 Samford University AL $93,444 $19,000 50
81 University of San Diego CA $93,099 $23,094 204
82 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC $92,578 $23,250 608
83 St Bonaventure University NY $92,426 $24,375 42
84 Pace University NY $92,271 $25,000 124
85 Clemson University SC $91,269 $19,312 241
86 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $90,960 $17,250 446
87 Bryant University RI $90,499 $26,714 186
88 The University of Tampa FL $90,485 $25,250 150
89 Saint Edward's University TX $90,286 $21,875 31
90 Saint Anselm College NH $90,161 $27,000 30
91 Suffolk University MA $90,090 $27,000 114
92 Seton Hall University NJ $89,994 $21,500 161
93 Brigham Young University-Idaho ID $89,686 $13,843 187
94 Hofstra University NY $89,518 $23,250 69
95 University of Alabama in Huntsville AL $89,472 - 43
96 La Salle University PA $89,087 $25,000 59
97 Creighton University NE $89,079 $26,975 143
98 Loyola University Chicago IL $89,001 $22,000 146
99 Drake University IA $88,637 $25,000 30
100 Siena University NY $88,623 $26,000 39

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Finance (CIP 52.08) 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 Finance (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 Finance and Financial Management Services (CIP 52.08) bachelor's programs - accounting (CIP 52.03) and economics (CIP 45.06) 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.