The 50 colleges that score highest for Statistics 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 | Harvard University | MA | Median earnings $230,876 · 65 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Median earnings $117,252 (field-wide) · 45 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $109,017 · 295 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | Duke University | NC | Median earnings $152,782 · 60 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $111,371 (college-wide) · 42 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | Yale University | CT | Median earnings $100,533 (college-wide) · 48 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | University of Chicago | IL | Median earnings $130,189 · 57 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | Median earnings $133,986 · 114 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $109,466 · 122 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Rice University | TX | Median earnings $89,718 (college-wide) · 31 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Median earnings $156,743 · 170 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Cornell University | NY | Median earnings $111,090 · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Northwestern University | IL | Median earnings $122,682 · 39 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $105,978 · 322 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $108,532 · 152 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | Williams College | MA | Median earnings $134,304 (field-wide) · 27 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $99,210 · 75 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | University of California-Davis | CA | Median earnings $88,033 · 234 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | University of Florida | FL | Median earnings $98,409 · 108 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | Median earnings $90,778 · 375 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Emory University | GA | Median earnings $93,446 · 160 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $104,047 · 216 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Amherst College | MA | Median earnings $124,324 (field-wide) · 19 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Washington University in St Louis | MO | Median earnings $98,497 (field-wide) · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Colby College | ME | Median earnings $80,490 (college-wide) · 14 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | University of Notre Dame | IN | Median earnings $115,877 (field-wide) · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $80,721 · 58 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $100,127 (field-wide) · 39 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | University of California-San Diego | CA | Median earnings $96,746 · 48 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | University of Rochester | NY | Median earnings $94,178 (field-wide) · 33 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $86,636 · 64 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $93,459 (field-wide) · 52 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Case Western Reserve University | OH | Median earnings $87,989 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Carleton College | MN | Median earnings $75,525 (college-wide) · 15 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $75,328 (college-wide) · 14 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $78,063 (field-wide) · 44 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | Median earnings $85,090 · 76 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $80,993 · 56 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | Median earnings $101,353 · 49 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | Florida State University | FL | Median earnings $77,605 · 58 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | Median earnings $79,554 (field-wide) · 25 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $76,556 · 92 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | Mount Holyoke College | MA | Median earnings $58,418 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Michigan State University | MI | Median earnings $93,930 · 29 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | University of Georgia | GA | Median earnings $83,092 · 32 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | University of Arizona | AZ | Median earnings $66,381 (field-wide) · 41 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | United States Military Academy | NY | Earnings not published · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | University of Missouri-Columbia | MO | Median earnings $76,037 · 35 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Wake Forest University | NC | Median earnings $78,158 (college-wide) · 21 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | Median earnings $94,300 · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees |
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