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.
Ranked by median earnings, 10 years after entry · 1,660 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.
#1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
#3
Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA
#7
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
- 1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA · Private$143,372Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Biological Sciences#1
- Business#1
- Liberal Arts#1
- Multidisciplinary Studies#2
- Physical Sciences#2
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#3
- 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
- 2Samuel Merritt UniversityOakland, CA · Private$143,238Compare nearby
- 3Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$138,687Compare nearby
- 4Albany College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesAlbany, NY · Private$131,426Compare nearby
- 5California Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA · Private$128,566Compare nearby
- 6MCPHS UniversityBoston, MA · Private$125,557Compare nearby
- 7Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · Private$124,080Compare 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
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#7
- Area & Ethnic Studies#8
- Social Sciences#8
- Engineering#10
- English Language & Literature#18
- Multidisciplinary Studies#22
- Are Least Likely to Leave#24
- 8Babson CollegeWellesley, MA · Private$123,938Compare nearby
- 9Bentley UniversityWaltham, MA · Private$120,959Compare nearby
- 10Roseman University of Health SciencesHenderson, NV · Private$120,163Compare nearby
- 11Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA · Private$114,862Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- Social Sciences#2
- Business#3
- Visual & Performing Arts#3
- Multidisciplinary Studies#4
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#6
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#6
- Mathematics & Statistics#8
- Physical Sciences#8
- the Highest SAT Averages#10
- Architecture#12
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#13
- Computer Science#19
- 12University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA · Private$111,371Compare 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
- Engineering#12
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#17
- Computer Science#18
- Are Least Likely to Leave#20
- Social Sciences#22
- 13Helene Fuld College of NursingNew York, NY · Private$111,027Compare nearby
- 14Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ · Private$110,066Compare 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
- the Highest SAT Averages#14
- Psychology#15
- the Highest ACT Scores#20
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#24
- 15Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara, CA · Private$109,183Compare nearby
- 16Stevens Institute of TechnologyHoboken, NJ · Private$108,772Compare nearby
- 17Lehigh UniversityBethlehem, PA · Private$105,584Compare nearby
- 18Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$104,736Compare nearby
- 19Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · Private$104,043Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Public Administration#1
- Mathematics & Statistics#11
- Psychology#11
- Communications#13
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#17
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#19
- Computer Science#20
- the Highest ACT Scores#21
- Architecture#21
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#22
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#23
- Are Least Likely to Leave#23
- the Highest SAT Averages#23
- Most Selective Colleges in America#23
- Area & Ethnic Studies#25
- 20Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA · Private$103,937Compare nearby
- 21Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC · Private$103,494Compare nearby
- 22Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester, MA · Private$103,470Compare nearby
- 23Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, GA · Public$102,772Compare nearby
- 24West Coast University-Los AngelesNorth Hollywood, CA · For-profit$102,672Compare nearby
- 25Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private$102,491Compare 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
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#21
- Computer Science#25
- Social Sciences#25
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#25
How this list was built
- Measure
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry — sorted highest to lowest
- Source variable
MD_EARN_WNE_P10- 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.
- 1,660 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
- Re-rank with your weightsTune affordability, earnings, and fit yourself
- Showdown: Massachusetts Institute of Technology vs Samuel Merritt UniversityHigher-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 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
Keep going
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.
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.