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.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$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.

University of Pennsylvania

$202,069
Washington University in…

$185,551
University of Notre Dame

$160,313
Georgetown University

$152,744
Boston College

$147,746
Wake Forest University

$145,996
Fordham University

$141,860
American University

$134,332
Southern Methodist Unive…

$133,852
The University of Texas at

$132,075
Villanova University

$131,996
Brigham Young University

$129,879
Tulane University of Lou…

$129,850
Lehigh University

$127,210
George Washington Univer…

$126,638

What this shows Finance medians concentrate at research universities and coastal 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	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.