Program ranking · CIP 26.15 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Neuroscience

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Neuroscience (CIP 26.15) 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

$143,067
Highest neuroscience earnings: 59
Colleges ranked: $48,464
#59 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $48,464 median earnings for Neuroscience bachelor's (CIP 26.15) completers. Dartmouth College leads at $143,067.

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

$143,067
#1 - Dartmouth College: $48,464
#59 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 288
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.

Dartmouth College

$143,067
Middlebury College

$90,917
University of Southern C…

$89,203
University of New Hampsh…

$78,722
University of Pennsylvania

$78,295
Binghamton University

$77,478
Northeastern University

$74,617
Indiana University-Bloom…

$74,151
Emory University

$73,795
Central Michigan Univers…

$73,316
Duke University

$73,140
University of San Diego

$72,910
University of Colorado B…

$71,942
Columbia University in t…

$70,244
University of California…

$69,027

What this shows Neuroscience medians often reflect research-university and medical-adjacent pipelines - compare debt and completer counts before treating pay as program quality.

The full top 59

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Dartmouth College	NH	$143,067	$18,061	40
2	Middlebury College	VT	$90,917	$11,900	48
3	University of Southern California	CA	$89,203	$14,000	121
4	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	$78,722	$23,250	34
5	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$78,295	$12,000	132
6	Binghamton University	NY	$77,478	$19,500	237
7	Northeastern University	MA	$74,617	$24,000	118
8	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	$74,151	$22,802	112
9	Emory University	GA	$73,795	$17,421	167
10	Central Michigan University	MI	$73,316	$25,000	45
11	Duke University	NC	$73,140	$12,645	96
12	University of San Diego	CA	$72,910	$25,000	100
13	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$71,942	$20,547	145
14	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	$70,244	$24,812	81
15	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$69,027	$19,000	62
16	Boston University	MA	$68,888	$24,325	147
17	Union College	NY	$68,666	$24,500	31
18	George Mason University	VA	$68,546	$19,727	70
19	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$68,480	$21,134	260
20	Brandeis University	MA	$68,179	$26,000	60
21	Trinity College	CT	$67,115	$24,022	26
22	University of St Thomas	MN	$66,868	$27,000	36
23	Barnard College	NY	$66,787	$17,491	40
24	University of Notre Dame	IN	$65,458	$19,500	116
25	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA	$65,239	$21,500	189
26	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$65,124	$23,250	264
27	Temple University	PA	$64,063	$25,668	101
28	University of California-Davis	CA	$63,720	$12,917	519
29	University of California-San Diego	CA	$61,799	$19,000	179
30	Brigham Young University	UT	$60,065	$12,344	113
31	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	$59,714	$22,300	205
32	Vanderbilt University	TN	$59,575	$16,000	103
33	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$59,568	$21,741	115
34	The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	$59,498	$19,500	257
35	University of Delaware	DE	$59,009	$25,000	87
36	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$58,824	$21,202	293
37	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$58,373	$25,000	115
38	Michigan State University	MI	$58,046	$24,232	255
39	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	$58,004	$23,827	107
40	Grand Valley State University	MI	$57,842	$24,179	77
41	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	$57,769	$20,833	90
42	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$56,869	$15,687	103
43	Johns Hopkins University	MD	$56,324	$12,750	128
44	Indiana University-Indianapolis	IN	$56,218	$15,127	56
45	Washington State University	WA	$55,687	$16,500	49
46	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$55,436	$17,500	226
47	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$55,404	$16,674	192
48	University of Nebraska at Omaha	NE	$55,043	$15,449	30
49	Northwestern University	IL	$54,279	$17,309	103
50	Syracuse University	NY	$54,088	$27,000	50
51	Baylor University	TX	$53,927	$27,000	65
52	University of Vermont	VT	$53,755	$19,650	58
53	University of Arizona	AZ	$52,571	$21,754	124
54	William & Mary	VA	$52,161	$17,250	69
55	University of California-Riverside	CA	$51,865	$19,000	136
56	Western Washington University	WA	$51,508	$22,000	31
57	Georgia State University	GA	$51,367	$23,250	76
58	Saint Edward's University	TX	$50,936	$24,250	37
59	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	$48,464	$19,500	149

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Neuroscience (CIP 26.15) 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 Neuroscience (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 Neurobiology and Neurosciences (CIP 26.15) bachelor's programs only - psychology (CIP 42.01), biology general (CIP 26.01), and biomedical engineering (CIP 14.05) are ranked on their own pages 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.