Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling
Where graduates are paid well early. Compare against the 10-year list to see which schools start strong versus compound over time.
Ranked by median earnings, 6 years after entry · 1,668 of 2,406 institutions report this measure · Compiled 2026-09-01
Chase these schools
Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
#4
Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA
#6
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
- 1Samuel Merritt UniversityOakland, CA · Private$143,353Compare nearby
- 2California Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA · Private$132,140Compare nearby
- 3Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA · Private$131,633Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#1
- Biological Sciences#1
- Business#1
- Liberal Arts#1
- Multidisciplinary Studies#2
- Physical Sciences#2
- the Highest SAT Averages#4
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#5
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#6
- Most Selective Colleges in America#7
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#8
- Computer Science#10
- Engineering#11
- Mathematics & Statistics#12
- Are Least Likely to Leave#14
- 4Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$115,107Compare nearby
- 5Albany College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesAlbany, NY · Private$112,685Compare nearby
- 6Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA · Private$105,360Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- 7Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · Private$102,887Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Computer Science#2
- Biological Sciences#3
- Engineering Technology#3
- Most Selective Colleges in America#3
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#4
- Psychology#6
- the Highest SAT Averages#6
- the Highest ACT Scores#7
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#7
- Area & Ethnic Studies#8
- Social Sciences#8
- Engineering#10
- English Language & Literature#18
- Multidisciplinary Studies#22
- Are Least Likely to Leave#24
- 8Helene Fuld College of NursingNew York, NY · Private$101,039Compare nearby
- 9Oregon Health & Science UniversityPortland, OR · Public$99,818Compare nearby
- 10Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA · Private$99,572Compare nearby
Also on 13 other lists
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#2
- Most Selective Colleges in America#2
- the Highest ACT Scores#3
- Psychology#3
- the Highest SAT Averages#3
- Biological Sciences#4
- Computer Science#4
- Mathematics & Statistics#6
- English Language & Literature#8
- History#8
- Are Least Likely to Leave#18
- Social Sciences#21
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#24
- 11Roseman University of Health SciencesHenderson, NV · Private$96,993Compare nearby
- 12United States Merchant Marine AcademyKings Point, NY · Public$96,770Compare nearby
- 13West Coast University-Los AngelesNorth Hollywood, CA · For-profit$96,114Compare nearby
- 14Maine Maritime AcademyCastine, ME · Public$93,944Compare nearby
- 15Babson CollegeWellesley, MA · Private$91,354Compare nearby
- 16Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara, CA · Private$91,198Compare nearby
- 17University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA · Private$90,555Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#2
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#4
- Communications#4
- Mathematics & Statistics#4
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#5
- Multidisciplinary Studies#5
- Business#9
- History#10
- the Highest SAT Averages#11
- Most Selective Colleges in America#11
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#12
- Engineering#12
- Computer Science#18
- Are Least Likely to Leave#20
- Social Sciences#22
- 18Stevens Institute of TechnologyHoboken, NJ · Private$90,326Compare nearby
- 19Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, GA · Public$89,432Compare nearby
- 20Lehigh UniversityBethlehem, PA · Private$88,810Compare nearby
- 21Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private$88,535Compare nearby
Also on 14 other lists
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#3
- the Highest ACT Scores#4
- Most Selective Colleges in America#4
- Foreign Languages#5
- the Highest SAT Averages#8
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#9
- History#16
- Mathematics & Statistics#16
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#18
- Area & Ethnic Studies#19
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#25
- Computer Science#25
- Social Sciences#25
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#25
- 22Loma Linda UniversityLoma Linda, CA · Private$88,185Compare nearby
- 23Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · Private$87,830Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Public Administration#1
- Mathematics & Statistics#11
- Psychology#11
- Communications#13
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#17
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#19
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#19
- Computer Science#20
- the Highest ACT Scores#21
- Architecture#21
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#22
- Are Least Likely to Leave#23
- the Highest SAT Averages#23
- Most Selective Colleges in America#23
- Area & Ethnic Studies#25
- 24Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ · Private$87,815Compare nearby
Also on 11 other lists
- Engineering#1
- English Language & Literature#1
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#3
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#3
- Most Selective Colleges in America#6
- Public Administration#10
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#11
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#14
- the Highest SAT Averages#14
- Psychology#15
- the Highest ACT Scores#20
- 25Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$87,603Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry — sorted highest to lowest
- Source variable
MD_EARN_WNE_P6- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release)
- Four-year, main-campus institutions awarding bachelor's degrees or higher (2,406 schools).
- Institutions enrolling fewer than 500 undergraduates are excluded so that small-cohort medians do not distort the ranking.
- 1,668 of 2,406 institutions report this measure; the rest are omitted rather than estimated.
A single measure is a narrow way to judge a college. Read this alongside the others, and see the methodology for what these figures do and do not capture.
Keep exploring
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- Showdown: Samuel Merritt University vs California Institute of TechnologyHigher-or-lower on Scorecard metrics — round 1 is these two
- Live leaderboardReshuffle Top 10–50 on one Scorecard measure
- Explore games & mapsShowdown, Name That College, sports, and more lists
- Sports at Samuel Merritt UniversityEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
Keep going
Colleges Whose Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out
Median earnings a decade after students first enrolled — the longest earnings horizon the College Scorecard publishes.
Best Earnings Return per Dollar of Cost
Ten-year median earnings divided by annual cost of attendance. A blunt ratio of two published figures, not a return-on-investment model.
Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio
Ten-year median earnings divided by median federal debt at graduation. Higher means graduates out-earn what they borrowed by more.