Highest-Paying Social Sciences Programs
Colleges whose social 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 · 802 of 2,406 institutions report this measure · Compiled 2026-09-01
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Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#2
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
#8
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
#9
Yale University
New Haven, CT
- 1Williams CollegeWilliamstown, MA · Private$82,440Compare nearby
- 2Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA · Private$74,845Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- 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
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#11
- Architecture#12
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#13
- Computer Science#19
- 3Pomona CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$71,015Compare nearby
- 4Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA · Private$68,693Compare nearby
- 5Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$66,769Compare nearby
- 6Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroy, NY · Private$66,325Compare nearby
- 7Manhattan CollegeRiverdale, NY · Private$66,171Compare nearby
- 8Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · Private$63,005Compare 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
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#7
- Area & Ethnic Studies#8
- Engineering#10
- English Language & Literature#18
- Multidisciplinary Studies#22
- Are Least Likely to Leave#24
- 9Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · Private$62,260Compare nearby
Also on 13 other lists
- History#1
- English Language & Literature#5
- Most Selective Colleges in America#5
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#7
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#7
- Computer Science#9
- Multidisciplinary Studies#10
- the Highest ACT Scores#11
- Are Least Likely to Leave#15
- the Highest SAT Averages#15
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#16
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#17
- Psychology#24
- 10Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO · Public$61,020Compare nearby
- 11Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury, VT · Private$58,468Compare nearby
- 12Wellesley CollegeWellesley, MA · Private$57,957Compare nearby
- 13Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore, PA · Private$57,406Compare nearby
- 14Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem, NC · Private$57,318Compare nearby
- 15Trinity CollegeHartford, CT · Private$56,877Compare nearby
- 16Haverford CollegeHaverford, PA · Private$56,671Compare nearby
- 17Washington and Lee UniversityLexington, VA · Private$56,460Compare nearby
- 18Bates CollegeLewiston, ME · Private$56,443Compare nearby
- 19Dominican University of CaliforniaSan Rafael, CA · Private$56,415Compare nearby
- 20Concordia University-WisconsinMequon, WI · Private$55,964Compare nearby
- 21Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA · Private$55,786Compare 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
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#10
- Are Least Likely to Leave#18
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#24
- 22University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA · Private$55,588Compare 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
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#17
- Computer Science#18
- Are Least Likely to Leave#20
- 23Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD · Private$55,383Compare nearby
- 24CUNY Graduate School and University CenterNew York, NY · Public$55,151Compare nearby
- 25Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private$54,593Compare 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
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#25
- Computer Science#25
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#25
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 social 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.
- 802 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
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- Sports at Williams CollegeEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
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Highest-Paying Engineering Programs
Colleges whose engineering graduates earn the most one year after finishing, across all bachelor's programs in the field.
Highest-Paying Engineering Technology Programs
Colleges whose engineering technology graduates earn the most one year after finishing, across all bachelor's programs in the field.