Highest-Paying Physical Sciences Programs
Colleges whose physical sciences graduates earn the most one year after finishing, across all bachelor's programs in the field.
Ranked by median earnings, 1 year after completing · 353 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
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
#2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
#8
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
- 1Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH · Private$71,957Compare nearby
Also on 11 other lists
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#1
- Mathematics & Statistics#3
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#9
- History#11
- Most Selective Colleges in America#12
- Computer Science#14
- English Language & Literature#14
- the Highest SAT Averages#16
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#17
- the Highest ACT Scores#19
- Are Least Likely to Leave#25
- 2Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA · Private$69,338Compare 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
- 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
- 3California State University-San MarcosSan Marcos, CA · Public$65,332Compare nearby
- 4Columbia College ChicagoChicago, IL · Private$61,516Compare nearby
- 5Loyola University ChicagoChicago, IL · Private$60,161Compare nearby
- 6University of ArizonaTucson, AZ · Public$58,943Compare nearby
- 7Rochester Institute of TechnologyRochester, NY · Private$58,015Compare nearby
- 8Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA · Private$57,587Compare 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
- the Highest SAT Averages#10
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#11
- Architecture#12
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#13
- Computer Science#19
- 9Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO · Public$57,437Compare nearby
- 10University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, AL · Public$57,318Compare nearby
- 11Bethel UniversitySaint Paul, MN · Private$56,415Compare nearby
- 12University of North AlabamaFlorence, AL · Public$55,151Compare nearby
- 13Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL · Private$53,810Compare nearby
Also on 11 other lists
- 14Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX · Public$53,358Compare nearby
- 15Morehead State UniversityMorehead, KY · Public$52,107Compare nearby
- 16Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA · Private$52,107Compare nearby
- 17Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo, MI · Public$51,690Compare nearby
- 18Salisbury UniversitySalisbury, MD · Public$50,518Compare nearby
- 19University of Massachusetts-LowellLowell, MA · Public$50,231Compare nearby
- 20East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, PA · Public$50,231Compare nearby
- 21College of the Holy CrossWorcester, MA · Private$49,331Compare nearby
- 22Saginaw Valley State UniversityUniversity Center, MI · Public$49,214Compare nearby
- 23University of Wisconsin-La CrosseLa Crosse, WI · Public$49,144Compare nearby
- 24Southern Arkansas University Main CampusMagnolia, AR · Public$49,058Compare nearby
- 25Oberlin CollegeOberlin, OH · Private$49,058Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Median earnings, 1 year after completing — sorted highest to lowest
- Source variable
EARN_MDN_HI_1YR- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study (04-17-2025 release)
- Where a college offers several physical sciences programs, the figure shown is the median across those programs.
- Earnings cover graduates who received federal financial aid, were working and not enrolled one year after completing, and whose highest credential is that bachelor's degree.
- 353 institutions report earnings for this field; programs with too few graduates are suppressed for privacy by the Department of Education and cannot be ranked.
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 weightsRe-score with your weights, filtered to Physical Sciences
- Showdown: Dartmouth College vs Massachusetts 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 Dartmouth CollegeEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
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Highest-Paying English Language & Literature Programs
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