The 50 colleges that score highest for Philosophy 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 | Stanford University | CA | Median earnings $124,080 (college-wide) · 25 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Harvard University | MA | Median earnings $101,817 (college-wide) · 31 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of Chicago | IL | Median earnings $71,709 · 71 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Median earnings $56,885 · 53 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $107,454 · 193 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | Princeton University | NJ | Median earnings $110,066 (college-wide) · 20 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | Median earnings $87,555 (college-wide) · 12 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | Yale University | CT | Median earnings $100,533 (college-wide) · 23 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Rice University | TX | Median earnings $89,718 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Brown University | RI | Median earnings $93,487 (college-wide) · 28 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | Duke University | NC | Median earnings $97,800 (college-wide) · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt University | TN | Median earnings $91,565 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Dartmouth College | NH | Median earnings $97,434 (college-wide) · 24 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $61,754 · 117 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | Cornell University | NY | Median earnings $104,043 (college-wide) · 27 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | Pomona College | CA | Median earnings $77,779 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Swarthmore College | PA | Median earnings $80,257 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | Northwestern University | IL | Median earnings $89,363 (college-wide) · 13 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | New York University | NY | Median earnings $52,633 · 76 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | Median earnings $63,326 · 91 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Williams College | MA | Median earnings $88,665 (college-wide) · 14 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Median earnings $114,862 (college-wide) · 17 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Emory University | GA | Median earnings $80,137 (college-wide) · 55 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Amherst College | MA | Median earnings $77,644 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $51,831 · 84 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $92,538 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | Barnard College | NY | Median earnings $80,516 (college-wide) · 10 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Claremont McKenna College | CA | Median earnings $104,736 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | University of Notre Dame | IN | Median earnings $99,980 (college-wide) · 37 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Boston University | MA | Median earnings $68,026 · 67 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Colby College | ME | Median earnings $80,490 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | Washington University in St Louis | MO | Median earnings $86,182 (college-wide) · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Boston College | MA | Median earnings $97,519 · 71 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Tufts University | MA | Median earnings $83,214 (college-wide) · 35 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | Middlebury College | VT | Median earnings $76,310 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Wellesley College | MA | Median earnings $84,803 (college-wide) · 16 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $67,293 · 51 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Colgate University | NY | Median earnings $85,139 (college-wide) · 28 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | Hamilton College | NY | Median earnings $78,411 (college-wide) · 22 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | Median earnings $71,796 · 93 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Georgetown University | DC | Median earnings $103,494 (college-wide) · 14 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $58,324 (field-wide) · 35 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | NC | Median earnings $70,709 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Tulane University of Louisiana | LA | Median earnings $63,268 (college-wide) · 35 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | Wesleyan University | CT | Median earnings $73,897 (college-wide) · 18 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | Median earnings $64,846 · 75 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | Davidson College | NC | Median earnings $81,400 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $61,595 · 88 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Bates College | ME | Median earnings $69,498 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $80,735 (college-wide) · 42 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees |
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