If you want to earn a high income after college, you shouldn’t go to Harvard or Stanford, but rather CIT or MIT.
The New York Times (NYT) released a ranking of colleges and universities based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, including income and tuition costs. According to the NYT, California Institute of Technology (CIT) had the highest salaries for college graduates 10 years after graduation in 2020. Of the 900 colleges and universities surveyed by the NYT, CIT ranked first with a median income of $121,666. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came in second at $111,222.
In third place, Harvey Mudd College earned $108,988 10 years after graduation. Located in Claremont, Los Angeles County, Harvey Mudd College is considered one of America’s “small but mighty” colleges. It specializes in math, science, and engineering.
Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, also costs $107,974 and is known for its finance and business programs, with finance majors making up 26% of its graduates.
With only two Ivy League schools in the top 10, a school’s academic ranking doesn’t necessarily translate into high earnings for its graduates.
The University of Pennsylvania ranked fifth with an annual income of $103,246 and Princeton University ranked 10th with an annual income of $95,689.
Starting in sixth place, the median income for workers from elite universities fell below $100,000 per year.
Carnegie Mellon University was just shy of $100,000, at $99,998, and seventh-place Stevens Institute of Technology was at $98,159. Rounding out the top eight were Stanford University at $97,798 and Georgetown University at $96,375.
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, specializes in mechanical engineering, computer science, and more.
The colleges with the highest earning graduates tend to specialize in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), experts said, noting that STEM majors are naturally high earners. The experts added that these rankings may not be accurate, as they can vary by undergraduate major and individual ability. However, they did agree that having a bachelor’s degree can make a difference in annual income.
According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the median annual salary for those with a bachelor’s degree was $59,600 in 2020. In contrast, workers with only a high school diploma earned a median of $36,600, or about 38.6% less.
By Hoonsik Woo [support@koreadaily.com]
