Resume Signal — Top 100 Undergraduate Brands
One hundred U.S. undergraduate institutions, chosen editorially, then ordered by a published rubric: Scorecard admission rate (50%), 10-year median earnings (35%), and a capped editorial brand score (15%). Not a quality ranking, and not a claim about interviews or hiring.
Editorial membership · rubric order · Last reviewed October 18, 2026 · Top 100 · admission rate (context only) · Data compiled 2026-10-24
Chase these schools
Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#2
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
#3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
#4
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Scoring rubric
Last reviewed October 18, 2026
Who is on this list is an editorial choice. Order inside that roster of 100 is computed here. Each Scorecard input becomes a percentile within these 100 schools: 1 is best on that input, 0 is worst, and ties share an average rank. After the composite, ties break by lower admission rate, then higher 10-year earnings, then lower UNITID. No editorial rank overrides are applied.
- Selectivity · 50%
- College Scorecard
ADM_RATE, already on each school profile. A lower admission rate scores higher. - Earnings · 35%
- College Scorecard
MD_EARN_WNE_P10, median earnings 10 years after entry. Higher scores higher. The figure describes a past cohort, not a personal forecast. - Editorial brand · 15% cap
- 1 if the school is on the Ivy League roster committed in this repo, or is one of Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Duke University. Otherwise 0. That flag is a human label for cross-regional name recognition. It is not a survey, and it is not a hiring result. Weight is capped at 15%.
- National reach · 0%
- TODO(owner): national reach is not scored. Out-of-state share and international share (Scorecard UGDS_NRA or IPEDS residence) are not in this repo. Missing values are not estimated.
Showing 100 of 100 · sorted by rubric rank ↑. Admission rate (context only).
| Tier | Details | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasadena, CAWest | Tier 1 | 3.1% | ||
| 2 | Stanford, CAWest | Tier 1 | 3.9% | ||
| 3 | Cambridge, MANortheast | Tier 1 | 4.7% | ||
| 4 | Princeton, NJMid-Atlantic | Tier 1 | 4.5% | ||
| 5 | Cambridge, MANortheast | Tier 1 | 3.5% | ||
| 6 | New York, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 1 | 4.2% | ||
| 7 | Philadelphia, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 1 | 5.9% | ||
| 8 | New Haven, CTNortheast | Tier 1 | 4.5% | ||
| 9 | Providence, RINortheast | Tier 1 | 5.2% | ||
| 10 | Hanover, NHNortheast | Tier 1 | 6.2% | ||
| 11 | Chicago, ILMidwest | Tier 1 | 4.8% | ||
| 12 | Durham, NCSouth | Tier 1 | 6.8% | ||
| 13 | Ithaca, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 1 | 8.2% | ||
| 14 | Boston, MANortheast | Tier 1 | 5.7% | ||
| 15 | Nashville, TNSouth | Tier 1 | 6.3% | ||
| 16 | Pittsburgh, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 1 | 11.4% | ||
| 17 | Evanston, ILMidwest | Tier 1 | 7.1% | ||
| 18 | Claremont, CAWest | Tier 1 | 11.1% | ||
| 19 | Houston, TXSouth | Tier 1 | 7.9% | ||
| 20 | Claremont, CAWest | Tier 1 | 13.1% | ||
| 21 | Baltimore, MDMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 7.6% | ||
| 22 | Los Angeles, CAWest | Tier 2 | 10.0% | ||
| 23 | Williamstown, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 10.0% | ||
| 24 | Washington, DCMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 13.1% | ||
| 25 | Notre Dame, INMidwest | Tier 2 | 12.4% | ||
| 26 | Brunswick, MENortheast | Tier 2 | 8.0% | ||
| 27 | Chestnut Hill, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 15.7% | ||
| 28 | Berkeley, CAWest | Tier 2 | 11.7% | ||
| 29 | Swarthmore, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 6.9% | ||
| 30 | Los Angeles, CAWest | Tier 2 | 8.7% | ||
| 31 | Atlanta, GASouth | Tier 2 | 16.5% | ||
| 32 | Claremont, CAWest | Tier 2 | 6.8% | ||
| 33 | New York, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 9.4% | ||
| 34 | New York, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 8.0% | ||
| 35 | Medford, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 10.1% | ||
| 36 | Boston, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 10.8% | ||
| 37 | Hamilton, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 11.9% | ||
| 38 | Saint Louis, MOMidwest | Tier 2 | 12.0% | ||
| 39 | Amherst, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 9.8% | ||
| 40 | Bethlehem, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 29.3% | ||
| 41 | Wellesley, MANortheast | Tier 2 | 13.9% | ||
| 42 | Villanova, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 25.1% | ||
| 43 | Atlanta, GASouth | Tier 2 | 11.1% | ||
| 44 | Charlottesville, VASouth | Tier 2 | 16.9% | ||
| 45 | Middlebury, VTNortheast | Tier 2 | 10.4% | ||
| 46 | Davidson, NCSouth | Tier 2 | 14.5% | ||
| 47 | Ann Arbor, MIMidwest | Tier 2 | 17.9% | ||
| 48 | Haverford, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 2 | 12.9% | ||
| 49 | La Jolla, CAWest | Tier 2 | 24.5% | ||
| 50 | Cleveland, OHMidwest | Tier 2 | 28.7% | ||
| 51 | Troy, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 3 | 58.5% | ||
| 52 | Winston-Salem, NCSouth | Tier 3 | 21.6% | ||
| 53 | Irvine, CAWest | Tier 3 | 25.6% | ||
| 54 | Coral Gables, FLSouth | Tier 3 | 18.5% | ||
| 55 | Middletown, CTNortheast | Tier 3 | 17.1% | ||
| 56 | Northfield, MNMidwest | Tier 3 | 22.3% | ||
| 57 | Golden, COWest | Tier 3 | 59.7% | ||
| 58 | College Park, MDMid-Atlantic | Tier 3 | 44.8% | ||
| 59 | Davis, CAWest | Tier 3 | 41.6% | ||
| 60 | Chapel Hill, NCSouth | Tier 3 | 18.7% | ||
| 61 | Rochester, NYMid-Atlantic | Tier 3 | 35.9% | ||
| 62 | Champaign, ILMidwest | Tier 3 | 43.7% | ||
| 63 | Santa Barbara, CAWest | Tier 3 | 27.8% | ||
| 64 | Austin, TXSouth | Tier 3 | 29.1% | ||
| 65 | New Orleans, LASouth | Tier 3 | 14.6% | ||
| 66 | Gainesville, FLSouth | Tier 3 | 24.0% | ||
| 67 | Seattle, WAWest | Tier 3 | 42.5% | ||
| 68 | Blacksburg, VASouth | Tier 3 | 57.0% | ||
| 69 | Williamsburg, VASouth | Tier 3 | 32.7% | ||
| 70 | Madison, WIMidwest | Tier 3 | 43.4% | ||
| 71 | Clemson, SCSouth | Tier 3 | 38.0% | ||
| 72 | Athens, GASouth | Tier 3 | 37.2% | ||
| 73 | Tallahassee, FLSouth | Tier 3 | 25.4% | ||
| 74 | West Lafayette, INMidwest | Tier 3 | 50.3% | ||
| 75 | Storrs, CTNortheast | Tier 3 | 53.9% | ||
| 76 | Provo, UTWest | Tier 4 | 69.2% | ||
| 77 | New Brunswick, NJMid-Atlantic | Tier 4 | 65.3% | ||
| 78 | Pittsburgh, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 4 | 49.7% | ||
| 79 | Amherst, MANortheast | Tier 4 | 57.8% | ||
| 80 | College Station, TXSouth | Tier 4 | 63.2% | ||
| 81 | Waco, TXSouth | Tier 4 | 51.0% | ||
| 82 | Knoxville, TNSouth | Tier 4 | 46.0% | ||
| 83 | University Park, PAMid-Atlantic | Tier 4 | 54.2% | ||
| 84 | Columbus, OHMidwest | Tier 4 | 50.8% | ||
| 85 | Richardson, TXSouth | Tier 4 | 65.5% | ||
| 86 | Minneapolis, MNMidwest | Tier 4 | 77.0% | ||
| 87 | Boulder, COWest | Tier 4 | 83.3% | ||
| 88 | Columbia, SCSouth | Tier 4 | 61.5% | ||
| 89 | East Lansing, MIMidwest | Tier 4 | 83.9% | ||
| 90 | Bloomington, INMidwest | Tier 4 | 80.4% | ||
| 91 | Norman, OKSouth | Tier 5 | 76.5% | ||
| 92 | Iowa City, IAMidwest | Tier 5 | 84.7% | ||
| 93 | Durham, NHNortheast | Tier 5 | 86.9% | ||
| 94 | Salt Lake City, UTWest | Tier 5 | 87.2% | ||
| 95 | Fayetteville, ARSouth | Tier 5 | 71.7% | ||
| 96 | Tuscaloosa, ALSouth | Tier 5 | 75.8% | ||
| 97 | Eugene, ORWest | Tier 5 | 85.1% | ||
| 98 | Tempe, AZWest | Tier 5 | 90.2% | ||
| 99 | Tucson, AZWest | Tier 5 | 85.7% | ||
| 100 | Missoula, MTWest | Tier 5 | 95.6% |
How this list was built
- Measure
- Editorial membership. Order is the published rubric (higher composite first). Admission rate (context only) does not by itself set rank. Last reviewed October 18, 2026.
- Source variable
Composite inside the editorial roster: 50% percentile of ADM_RATE (lower is higher) + 35% percentile of MD_EARN_WNE_P10 + 15% editorial brand (0 or 1). National reach weight 0%.- Dataset
- Membership is editorial. Rank is the published rubric. Admission rate and 10-year earnings come from U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release).
- Four-year, main-campus, currently operating institutions awarding bachelor's degrees or higher (2,384 schools).
- Membership is an editorial judgment about which undergraduate institutions to include. It is not a quality ranking, and it is not evidence about interviews or job offers.
- Order inside that membership is the published rubric: 50% within-roster percentile of College Scorecard ADM_RATE (lower admission rate scores higher), 35% within-roster percentile of College Scorecard MD_EARN_WNE_P10 (median earnings 10 years after entry; higher scores higher), and 15% editorial brand. Editorial brand is 1 for the Ivy League roster committed in this repo plus Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Chicago, and Duke, and 0 otherwise. The brand flag is a human label for cross-regional name recognition. It is not a survey and not a hiring result.
- Percentiles are computed only inside this roster of 100. Ties on an input share an average rank. After the composite, remaining ties break by lower admission rate, then higher 10-year earnings, then lower UNITID.
- No editorial rank overrides are applied.
- TODO(owner): national reach is not scored. Out-of-state share and international share (Scorecard UGDS_NRA or IPEDS residence) are not in this repo. Missing values are not estimated.
- Admission rate is shown in the table as context. The rank column is the rubric order. Earnings describe a past cohort and mix who enrolled with what the institution does. They are not a personal forecast.
- Wharton and other professional schools are not separate undergraduate institutions; they are reflected in the parent university’s row.
- A name that is familiar in one field or region may be ordinary in another. Blurbs are editorial notes, not measured outcomes.
- Region tags are mutually exclusive editorial cuts: Northeast = New England; Mid-Atlantic = NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, and DC; Virginia campuses stay South (Charlottesville / Blacksburg / Williamsburg are not Northern Virginia).
- Last reviewed 2026-10-18.
This rubric orders a hand-picked roster. It is not a quality verdict, not a personal earnings forecast, and not evidence about interviews or job offers. Earnings mix what a college does with who it enrolls. Read this alongside other Scorecard rankings, and see the methodology.
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