Leading U.S. colleges by starting and mid-career pay of graduates 2023/24

As of the 2023/24 academic year, graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a starting salary of 110,200 U.S. dollars, and a mid-career salary of 196,900 U.S. dollars.

Top universities in the United States

One of the top universities in the United States, Harvey Mudd College, is located in Claremont, California. Not only do graduates earn a high salaries after graduation, they also pay the most. In the academic year of 2020-2021, Harvey Mudd College was one of the most expensive school by total annual cost. The best university in the United States in 2021 belonged to the University of California, Berkeley.

The Ivy League

The Ivy League is a group of eight private universities in the Northeastern United States. It is not only a collegiate athletic conference, but also a group of highly respected academic institutions. They are usually regarded as the best eight universities in the United States and the world. They are extremely selective with their admissions process. However, these universities are extremely expensive to attend. Despite the high price tag, students who graduate from Princeton University have the highest early career salary out of all Ivy League attendees in 2021. This is compared to the overall expected starting salaries of recent college graduates across the United States, which was less than 35,000 U.S. dollars.

U.S. colleges whose graduates (All Alumni) earn the most in c, ranked by starting and mid-career salary (in U.S. dollars)

Characteristic	Early career pay	Mid-career pay
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	110,200	196,900
Princeton University	95,600	194,100
United States Naval Academy	96,700	187,800
Harvey Mudd College	115,000	185,900
Babson College	90,600	181,400
Stanford University	102,300	181,200
Santa Clara University	91,000	179,500
Dartmouth College	92,300	178,700
University of Pennsylvania	92,500	178,300
Harvard University	95,600	177,400
Colgate University	87,400	176,100
Lehigh University	89,100	175,600
California Institute of Technology	111,000	175,400
Claremont McKenna College	89,800	175,000
United States Military Academy	95,400	174,100
Williams College	85,800	173,900
Stevens Institute of Technology	92,800	172,900
United States Air Force Academy	90,900	172,800
Yale University	92,100	171,900
University of California-Berkeley	90,900	170,100
SUNY Maritime College	89,100	169,400
Colorado School of Mines	89,900	169,400
United States Merchant Marine Academy	103,300	168,700
Georgetown University	84,300	168,600
Webb Institute	97,500	168,500
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	92,900	168,000
Carnegie Mellon University	100,500	167,400
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	91,900	166,200
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	93,000	165,800
University of Notre Dame	86,900	165,500

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Release date

October 2024

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2024

Supplementary notes

Salary combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime, and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable.
Salary does not include equity (stock) compensation, which can be a significant portion of pay for some executive and high-tech jobs. In addition, salary does not include cash value of retirement benefits, or value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Early career employees are full-time employees with five years of experience or less in their career or field who hold a bachelor's degree and no higher degrees.
The typical (median) starting employee is 25 years old and has two years of experience.

Mid-career employees are full-time employees with at least 10 years of experience in their career or field who hold a bachelor's degree and no higher degrees.
The typical (median) mid-career employee is 42 years old and has 15 years of experience.

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