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Program ranking · CIP 38.01 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Philosophy

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Philosophy (CIP 38.01) 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.

$107,454
Highest philosophy earnings
56
Colleges ranked
$31,906
#56 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $31,906 median earnings for Philosophy bachelor's (CIP 38.01) completers. University of Pennsylvania leads at $107,454.

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

$107,454
#1 - University of Pennsylvania
$31,906
#56 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
774
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 philosophy programs by median completer earnings

Philosophy bachelor's (CIP 38.01) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Philosophy medians often reflect law-school and knowledge-work pipelines more than a single occupation - debt and cohort size still matter.

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

The full top 56

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of Pennsylvania PA $107,454 $19,000 202
2 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $98,592 - 35
3 Boston College MA $97,519 $18,000 95
4 William & Mary VA $75,423 $18,312 35
5 Fordham University NY $74,507 $20,500 40
6 University of California-Santa Barbara CA $71,796 $15,000 109
7 The University of Texas at Austin TX $71,790 $19,500 51
8 University of Chicago IL $71,709 $22,641 77
9 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $70,709 $14,618 56
10 Seton Hall University NJ $70,628 $19,250 32
11 Boston University MA $68,026 $25,375 56
12 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $67,293 $19,125 37
13 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $65,675 $23,250 49
14 California State University-Sacramento CA $65,115 $14,753 25
15 University of Maryland-College Park MD $64,846 $19,500 65
16 Virginia Commonwealth University VA $64,402 $20,500 33
17 University of Scranton PA $63,410 $27,000 29
18 University of California-Berkeley CA $63,326 $13,345 87
19 University of California-Los Angeles CA $61,754 $15,000 123
20 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $61,595 $13,500 82
21 University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA $61,595 $13,500 64
22 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $61,186 $21,500 69
23 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $59,935 $24,188 55
24 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $59,935 $24,188 55
25 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $58,891 $21,625 32
26 University of Oregon OR $58,635 $24,500 36
27 University of California-Davis CA $58,633 $13,000 52
28 Columbia University in the City of New York NY $56,885 $20,937 52
29 University of Iowa IA $56,786 $25,385 25
30 University of Houston TX $55,875 $24,200 28
31 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $55,823 $20,800 25
32 University of Arizona AZ $55,804 $19,750 27
33 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $54,822 $17,375 39
34 San Diego State University CA $53,390 $25,000 29
35 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $53,189 $20,500 37
36 University of Florida FL $52,656 $17,413 48
37 New York University NY $52,633 $23,250 71
38 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA $52,436 - 39
39 University of Southern California CA $51,831 $7,500 65
40 University of California-Riverside CA $51,402 $19,022 49
41 University of California-Santa Cruz CA $51,398 $15,000 60
42 University of Colorado Colorado Springs CO $49,909 $25,000 31
43 University of South Florida FL $49,561 - 30
44 Utah Valley University UT $49,403 - 32
45 The Catholic University of America DC $49,378 $26,759 26
46 California State University-Long Beach CA $49,062 $12,919 35
47 Florida State University FL $47,153 $22,000 30
48 California State University-Fullerton CA $44,533 - 28
49 CUNY Lehman College NY $43,165 $17,600 27
50 Florida International University FL $43,085 $13,393 45
51 San Francisco State University CA $42,993 $15,750 41
52 California State University-Fresno CA $42,337 $13,824 28
53 University of St Thomas MN $41,209 $17,500 35
54 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $34,482 $18,413 30
55 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX $33,457 $13,000 26
56 Franciscan University of Steubenville OH $31,906 $20,000 36

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Philosophy (CIP 38.01) 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 Philosophy (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 Philosophy (CIP 38.01) bachelor's programs - religious studies and ethics-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.