The 50 colleges that score highest for Chemistry on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | Median earnings $131,025 (field-wide) · 26 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Stanford University | CA | Median earnings $124,080 (college-wide) · 20 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $111,371 (college-wide) · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | University of Chicago | IL | Median earnings $91,885 (college-wide) · 80 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | Harvard University | MA | Median earnings $101,817 (college-wide) · 54 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | Median earnings $82,386 · 135 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | Princeton University | NJ | Median earnings $110,066 (college-wide) · 25 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | Northwestern University | IL | Median earnings $89,363 (college-wide) · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Cornell University | NY | Median earnings $79,311 · 43 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | Median earnings $87,555 (college-wide) · 28 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $72,220 · 63 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Emory University | GA | Median earnings $79,034 · 109 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Yale University | CT | Median earnings $100,533 (college-wide) · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | Duke University | NC | Median earnings $97,800 (college-wide) · 24 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | University of California-San Diego | CA | Median earnings $77,249 · 157 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Median earnings $102,491 (college-wide) · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Vanderbilt University | TN | Median earnings $91,565 (college-wide) · 28 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | New York University | NY | Median earnings $86,197 · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Median earnings $82,431 (field-wide) · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | NC | Median earnings $64,981 · 100 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $74,810 · 135 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | University of Notre Dame | IN | Median earnings $110,029 (field-wide) · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Brown University | RI | Median earnings $93,487 (college-wide) · 19 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $68,174 · 131 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $65,591 · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $70,197 · 111 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | Boston University | MA | Median earnings $83,238 (college-wide) · 25 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Washington University in St Louis | MO | Median earnings $86,182 (college-wide) · 40 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | Median earnings $72,025 · 104 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Median earnings $119,715 (field-wide) · 29 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Rice University | TX | Median earnings $89,718 (college-wide) · 27 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $64,734 · 71 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | University of Florida | FL | Median earnings $56,179 · 159 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | University of California-Davis | CA | Median earnings $73,365 · 73 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $64,676 · 84 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $67,680 · 89 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $54,966 · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | Median earnings $74,713 · 75 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | Dartmouth College | NH | Median earnings $97,434 (college-wide) · 17 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $71,559 · 46 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | Median earnings $79,869 · 41 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | Tufts University | MA | Median earnings $83,214 (college-wide) · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | Stony Brook University | NY | Median earnings $71,783 · 95 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Pomona College | CA | Median earnings $77,779 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | Median earnings $70,206 · 54 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $69,662 · 74 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | University of Rochester | NY | Median earnings $79,042 (college-wide) · 27 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | Amherst College | MA | Median earnings $77,644 (college-wide) · 21 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Case Western Reserve University | OH | Median earnings $87,989 (college-wide) · 45 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $65,230 · 57 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees |
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