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National ranking · College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

Top 100 Highest-Earning Colleges

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data retrieved March–July 2026, these rank highest among 6,243 US colleges on median earnings ten years after enrollment for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled.

$143,372
Top 10-yr earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$90,232
#100 earnings

The list in one line

Every one of the 100 highest-earning US colleges clears $90,232 in 10-year median earnings. Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops the list at $143,372 - 3.5× the typical US college.

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

$143,372
#1 - Massachusetts Institute of
$90,232
#100, the cutoff to make this list
Top 4%
even the #100 school, nationally
$40,796
national median, for contrast

Earnings are 10-year medians for federal-aid recipients who were working and not enrolled (Treasury-derived records via College Scorecard); see the methodology for cohort and lag details.

Top 15 colleges by 10-year median former-student earnings

Median earnings ten years after enrollment, federal-aid recipients

median 10-yr earnings

What this shows Specialized institutions can rank highly because of program mix and labor-market placement; compare each school against its cost and cohort limitations before reading earnings as value.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard As of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

Even the lowest-ranked school here out-earns most of the country. Here is where the #100 cutoff ($90,232) lands among all US colleges:

The bar to make this top-100 list

10-year median earnings, College Scorecard

$90,232 Top 4% higher than 96% of 5,103 US colleges

$0–$20,000: 169 US colleges (3%). Below this entry. $20,000–$40,000: 2,245 US colleges (44%). Below this entry. $40,000–$60,000: 1,897 US colleges (37%). Below this entry. $60,000–$80,000: 606 US colleges (12%). Below this entry. $80,000–$100,000: 134 US colleges (3%). This entry sits in this band. $100,000–$120,000: 39 US colleges (1%). Above this entry. $120,000–$140,000: 11 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. $140,000–$160,000: 2 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. #100 cutoff $0 $160,000 every US college, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

Narrow by state, sector, or minimum enrollment to compare schools within the slice you care about.

#School NameStateMedian Earnings (10yr)Enrollment
1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMA$143,3724,535
2Samuel Merritt UniversityCA$143,238718
3Philadelphia College of Osteopathic MedicinePA$138,767-
4Harvey Mudd CollegeCA$138,687921
5University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. LouisMO$137,047337
6Albany College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesNY$131,426481
7Franklin W Olin College of EngineeringMA$129,455377
8California Institute of TechnologyCA$128,566987
9Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesMA$125,5573,451
10Stanford UniversityCA$124,0807,554
11Babson CollegeMA$123,9382,728
12Bentley UniversityMA$120,9594,474
13Roseman University of Health SciencesNV$120,163536
14Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied HealthCA$115,318204
15Carnegie Mellon UniversityPA$114,8627,304
16GnomonCA$114,785294
17University of PennsylvaniaPA$111,37110,650
18Helene Fuld College of NursingNY$111,027914
19Princeton UniversityNJ$110,0665,709
20SUNY Downstate Health Sciences UniversityNY$109,601293
21Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara UniversityCA$109,183-
22Santa Clara UniversityCA$109,1836,552
23Stevens Institute of TechnologyNJ$108,7724,222
24Center for Allied Health EducationNY$107,249437
25Miami Ad School-New YorkNY$106,19231
26Miami Ad SchoolFL$106,19232
27Miami Ad School-AtlantaGA$106,19265
28Lehigh UniversityPA$105,5845,898
29Touro University NevadaNV$104,80522
30Touro University CaliforniaCA$104,80523
31Claremont McKenna CollegeCA$104,7361,388
32St Paul's School of Nursing-QueensNY$104,4031,056
33Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityNY$104,043-
34Cornell UniversityNY$104,04315,995
35Boston CollegeMA$103,93710,085
36Georgetown UniversityDC$103,4947,569
37Worcester Polytechnic InstituteMA$103,4705,447
38Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusGA$102,77218,785
39West Coast University-Los AngelesCA$102,672-
40West Coast University-Center for Graduate StudiesCA$102,672-
41West Coast University-MiamiFL$102,672961
42West Coast University-OntarioCA$102,6722,671
43West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange CountyCA$102,6723,192
44West Coast University-TexasTX$102,6722,673
45Columbia University in the City of New YorkNY$102,4918,973
46Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteNY$102,0515,714
47Harvard UniversityMA$101,8177,601
48Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of NursingMA$101,466174
49Rose-Hulman Institute of TechnologyIN$101,2532,309
50Oregon Health & Science UniversityOR$101,028836
51Yale UniversityCT$100,5336,758
52Villanova UniversityPA$100,4236,938
53University of Notre DameIN$99,9808,818
54Cochran School of NursingNY$99,503117
55Neumont College of Computer ScienceUT$97,827453
56Duke UniversityNC$97,8006,442
57Dartmouth CollegeNH$97,4344,541
58Colorado School of MinesCO$97,3356,155
59Mount Sinai Phillips School of NursingNY$96,980311
60SUNY Maritime CollegeNY$95,9511,285
61Kettering UniversityMI$94,8231,205
62Washington and Lee UniversityVA$94,8101,881
63Cal Poly Maritime AcademyCA$94,784804
64Bucknell UniversityPA$93,8073,876
65University of North Texas Health Science CenterTX$93,61541
66American University of Health SciencesCA$93,610351
67Brown UniversityRI$93,4877,226
68The University of Texas Medical Branch at GalvestonTX$92,961545
69Jewish Theological Seminary of AmericaNY$92,751172
70Northeastern University Professional ProgramsMA$92,5381,802
71Northeastern UniversityMA$92,53817,326
72Northeastern University OaklandCA$92,538464
73University of Southern CaliforniaCA$92,49820,443
74University of California-BerkeleyCA$92,44633,068
75Chamberlain University-LouisianaLA$92,405622
76Chamberlain University-CaliforniaCA$92,405751
77Chamberlain University-North CarolinaNC$92,405202
78Chamberlain University-New JerseyNJ$92,4051,226
79Chamberlain University-MichiganMI$92,405629
80Chamberlain University-NevadaNV$92,405652
81Chamberlain University-IndianaIN$92,405144
82Chamberlain University-GeorgiaGA$92,4051,940
83Chamberlain University-TexasTX$92,4052,270
84Chamberlain University-MissouriMO$92,405284
85Chamberlain University-VirginiaVA$92,405557
86Chamberlain University-FloridaFL$92,405821
87Chamberlain University-ArizonaAZ$92,405693
88Chamberlain University-OhioOH$92,405257
89Chamberlain University-IllinoisIL$92,40514,027
90Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterTX$92,3481,482
91Upstate Medical UniversityNY$92,257159
92University of ChicagoIL$91,8857,569
93Vanderbilt UniversityTN$91,5657,208
94Lafayette CollegePA$91,4102,757
95George Washington UniversityDC$90,87311,182
96Trinity CollegeCT$90,7792,146
97California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoCA$90,76821,996
98United States Merchant Marine AcademyNY$90,610962
99College of the Holy CrossMA$90,5433,106
100The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterTX$90,232334

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by the Scorecard institution-level median earnings field at 10 years after entry. The entry cohort includes federally aided students and is not limited to graduates; the published median includes cohort members who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year. This is a descriptive outcome, not an estimate of a school's causal effect.

Read the full methodology and data sources →

Caveats and limitations

This ranking does not control for field of study - a school heavy in engineering or computer science will outrank a similarly-selective liberal-arts college on raw earnings alone, independent of teaching quality. Earnings also reflect where a decade-old cohort chose to work, so schools whose former students cluster in high-cost-of-living metro areas will show higher nominal pay without necessarily higher real purchasing power.

Only students who received federal financial aid are counted, and the figures describe a cohort that enrolled roughly a decade ago rather than current students, so a school's trajectory since then is not captured here.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Earnings reflect a cohort that enrolled roughly a decade ago and do not predict any individual student'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 and IPEDS 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.