Compare Top Colleges by Salary Score

GradReports has compared the salaries of over 4.6 million college graduates to determine our Salary Score for over 2,281 schools and 885 degrees. See how colleges stack up.

2021 Best Colleges by Salary Score

We ranked the best colleges for a bachelor’s degree based on overall bachelor’s Salary Score from a pool of over 900 eligible colleges. Each college’s Salary Score is based on a comparison of alumni salaries across the same program at each school and weighted by student enrollment in each program. Data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard and reflects median alumni earnings in the first year after graduation for students who received federal financial aid. View our methodology.

Rank School Location Annual Tuition Salary Score
#1 #1 Harvard University Cambridge (MA) Cambridge (MA) $57,261 99.54
#2 #2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge (MA) Cambridge (MA) $57,986 99.13
#3 #3 Yale University New Haven (CT) New Haven (CT) $62,250 98.90
#4 #4 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia (PA) Philadelphia (PA) $63,452 98.85
#5 #5 Dartmouth College Hanover (NH) Hanover (NH) $62,658 98.84
#6 #6 Georgetown University Washington D.C. Washington D.C. $62,052 98.68
#7 #7 Santa Clara University Santa Clara (CA) Santa Clara (CA) $57,534 98.23
#8 #8 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh (PA) Pittsburgh (PA) $61,344 97.66
#9 #9 Stanford University Stanford (CA) Stanford (CA) $58,416 97.52
#10 #10 Dominican University of California San Rafael (CA) San Rafael (CA) $49,426 97.21

Press Mentions

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Optimal Choice Colleges

Our list of Optimal Choice colleges highlights schools that offer high alumni salaries and low tuition, meaning they have a Salary Score above the 60th percentile and below-average tuition. We researched the salary and tuition information of over 1,700 schools to find the colleges that have strong returns without the high price tag.


Best Colleges by Major


Trends & Insights

Our expert editorials provide a deep-dive into relevant and timely higher education topics, trends, and questions. All of our articles are informed by our proprietary data, investigative research, and thoughtful insights.


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Schools Students Love

Browse our collection of over 34,000 reviews for more than 2,000 colleges to find out what students are saying about the schools you're considering. Learn which schools students recommend the most and which ones had a positive impact on career growth. See how your college stacks up, and explore a selection of colleges with great reviews below.

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