2022 Best Undergraduate Colleges in the U.S.
A list of the colleges with the highest alumni starting salaries for bachelor’s graduates across majors

Getting an undergraduate education is an increasingly expensive venture. Average college costs have been climbing for decades and continue to outpace inflation. Higher education is a significant financial investment, and we believe salary is a critical metric of a student’s return on that investment.
Our list of the best colleges for a bachelor’s degree ranks schools by Salary Score, a proprietary data point that shows how much alumni earn compared to other graduates in the same field of study. This list highlights schools whose graduates earn the highest starting salaries for their major, no matter what they studied. While other rankings highlight the most prestigious colleges with the best reputations, our list shows which schools have the best outcomes for their students. We're also the only company to rank graduate schools and online colleges based on alumni earnings by major. Read our methodology to learn more about how schools were ranked.
Jump to takeawaysKey Insights:
- Online higher education is continuing to make inroads against on-campus colleges: Online college Thomas Edison State University is again the top public school, beating out UC Berkeley and other contenders
- Half of the top ten colleges by Salary Score are Ivy League schools, while Columbia University, another Ivy, moved up eight spots to #11
- Despite the negative public perception of for-profit colleges, grads from those schools reported above-average salaries when compared to public and private nonprofit school graduates
#1
Harvard University
No change from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$51,925
SALARY SCORE
99.51
Harvard stayed at the top of our list largely on the strength of its humanities and social sciences programs, including history, political science, economics, and social sciences. Computer science rounded out its top five fields of study.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
No change from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$53,790
SALARY SCORE
99.48
MIT also did not move from its 2021 ranking. Four of its five best programs in terms of salary outcomes are in the STEM field: computer science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and electrical, electronics and communications engineering. Despite its well-earned reputation as a STEM-focused school, its liberal arts and sciences program also gives its graduates much better salary outcomes than other liberal arts degree holders.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#3
Dartmouth College
+2 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,638
SALARY SCORE
98.89
Dartmouth moved up two places from last year to land at number three for Salary Score in 2022. Several top-flight programs seem to have driven that. Dartmouth's political science, economics, and psychology degrees have some of the most competitive salary outcomes in the country, and computer science is not far behind.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#4
Yale University
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$55,500
SALARY SCORE
98.71
Yale dropped one spot in salary outcome rankings, but is doing fine for itself at number four. Some of its best programs by salary outcomes echo its rival, Harvard, ranked at #1. These include history, political science, and economics. Psychology was another popular major at Yale that led to exceptional salary outcomes.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#5
Georgetown University
+1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$56,058
SALARY SCORE
98.35
Georgetown, which moved up one spot from last year, broadly lives up to its reputation as one of the premier institutes of higher education in our nation's capital. Some of its best programs in terms of salary outcomes include political science, finance, English, and economics. Another popular field for the foreign policy-oriented university, international relations and national security, had a Salary Score of 88, keeping it out of the top 90th percentile of similar programs nationwide.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#6
Carnegie Mellon University
+2 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,119
SALARY SCORE
98.3
Carnegie Mellon moved up two places to secure the sixth spot in our salary outcome rankings this year. Its strongest programs offer the same salary outcome advantages as many of the programs at overall higher-ranked schools. These include computer science, business, and electrical, electronics and communications engineering.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#7
University of Pennsylvania
-3 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,770
SALARY SCORE
98.15
UPenn is the last of the five Ivy Leagues in the top 10 schools by salary outcome. Though it dropped three spots, it still offers exceptional salary outcomes for popular majors such as political science, economics, like the other Ivies above, as well as finance and philosophy.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $75,634 | 99.87 | 0.0 |
Communication and Media Studies | $50,120 | 99.87 | 0.0 |
Cognitive Science | $60,724 | 96.78 | -2.3 |
Urban Studies/Affairs | $46,426 | 88.72 | 16.55 |
#8
Santa Clara University
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$53,634
SALARY SCORE
97.66
Santa Clara University dropped one spot but still maintains extremely strong salary outcomes for several majors, including finance, communication, and accounting. Other popular majors with Salary Scores in the top 95th and 90th percentiles, respectively, are biology and economics.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#9
Boston College
+2 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,910
SALARY SCORE
97.58
Boston College, which moved up two places from last year to enter the top 10, echoed Santa Clara's excellent salary outcomes in finance and communications. It also boasts strong outcomes in biology, political science, and economics.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Psychology, General | $37,262 | 96.78 | -1.92 |
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology | $41,046 | 96.3 | 4.57 |
#10
Stanford University
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$53,529
SALARY SCORE
96.99
Stanford dropped a spot but managed to stay in the top 10 best schools in terms of salary outcomes. A longtime recruiting ground for Silicon Valley companies, its computer science degree is among the best in the country, as is its psychology degree. Stanford's popular human biology program is also in the 95th percentile of salary outcomes.
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#11
Columbia University in the City of New York
+8 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$61,788
SALARY SCORE
96.72
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#12
Bentley University
+3 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$51,830
SALARY SCORE
96.67
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#13
Colgate University
+5 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$58,045
SALARY SCORE
96.45
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#14
Thomas Edison State University
+6 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$9,856
SALARY SCORE
95.83
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | $40,685 | 84.73 | 0.16 |
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | $82,105 | 94.66 | 2.89 |
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | $76,418 | 99.87 | 0.0 |
Social Sciences, General | $42,906 | 94.62 | 1.46 |
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $59,206 | 97.76 | 1.68 |
#15
Williams College
+19 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,280
SALARY SCORE
95.52
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#16
Princeton University
-3 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$52,800
SALARY SCORE
95.28
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#17
University of California - Berkeley
+5 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$44,007
SALARY SCORE
94.25
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#18
Barnard College
-6 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,668
SALARY SCORE
94.23
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#19
Bucknell University
+6 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$58,196
SALARY SCORE
94.11
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#20
University of Chicago
+12 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$60,552
SALARY SCORE
93.65
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#21
University of San Francisco
+8 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$50,282
SALARY SCORE
93.51
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#22
University of Notre Dame
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$55,553
SALARY SCORE
93.14
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#23
Cornell University
+8 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$57,222
SALARY SCORE
92.81
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#24
Northeastern University
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$53,506
SALARY SCORE
92.73
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Business/Commerce, General | $65,358 | 99.25 | 0.61 |
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | $69,253 | 64.02 | 0.71 |
Communication and Media Studies | $48,567 | 99.7 | -0.02 |
Research and Experimental Psychology | $35,413 | 73.5 | -7.58 |
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $68,843 | 99.87 | 0.0 |
#25
Lehigh University
+8 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$55,240
SALARY SCORE
92.52
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#26
American Public University System
+16 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$7,324
SALARY SCORE
92.15
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $54,183 | 92.28 | 3.12 |
Criminal Justice and Corrections | $49,354 | 98.64 | -0.98 |
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management | $63,468 | 83.74 | 13.89 |
Homeland Security | $51,985 | 62.17 | 3.35 |
Health and Physical Education/Fitness | $47,616 | 99.87 | 0.04 |
#27
Brown University
New to List
ANNUAL TUITION
$58,404
SALARY SCORE
91.89
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#28
Northwestern University
-4 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$56,691
SALARY SCORE
91.88
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication | $27,414 | 36.92 | -43.62 |
Communication and Media Studies | $48,590 | 99.7 | 2.69 |
Human Resources Management and Services | $69,350 | 99.87 | 4.63 |
Information Science/Studies | $94,536 | 99.87 | 0.17 |
#29
National University
New to List
ANNUAL TUITION
$13,320
SALARY SCORE
91.77
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | $85,563 | 97.44 | 1.45 |
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $54,361 | 92.56 | 6.88 |
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods | $39,572 | 76.91 | 6.2 |
Psychology, General | $36,571 | 95.53 | -2.63 |
Criminal Justice and Corrections | $53,819 | 99.8 | 0.39 |
#30
Capella University
+5 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$14,540
SALARY SCORE
91.76
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | $74,251 | 80.15 | 2.57 |
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $63,636 | 99.41 | 1.39 |
Psychology, General | $35,031 | 91.39 | 6.26 |
Health and Medical Administrative Services | $52,610 | 95.22 | 1.63 |
Human Resources Management and Services | $53,132 | 90.11 | 7.57 |
#31
Duke University
-1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$58,031
SALARY SCORE
91.74
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#32
Villanova University
-5 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$55,280
SALARY SCORE
91.59
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $60,840 | 98.59 | 0.6 |
Physical Sciences |
#33
University of Southern California
-7 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$58,195
SALARY SCORE
91.34
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#34
Georgia Institute of Technology
New to List
ANNUAL TUITION
$33,794
SALARY SCORE
91.31
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#35
Stevens Institute of Technology
New to List
ANNUAL TUITION
$54,014
SALARY SCORE
91.05
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#36
Southern Methodist University
+5 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$56,560
SALARY SCORE
90.99
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#37
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
+1 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$23,833
SALARY SCORE
90.16
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#38
Wellesley College
+8 from previous year
ANNUAL TUITION
$56,052
SALARY SCORE
89.99
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|
#39
Adelphi University
New to List
ANNUAL TUITION
$40,300
SALARY SCORE
89.69
PROGRAM | MEDIAN SALARY | SALARY SCORE | CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
Business Administration, Management and Operations | $43,551 | 57.61 | -6.45 |
Psychology, General | $22,578 | 9.13 | -10.94 |
Social Sciences, General | $36,942 |