Where It Pays To Go to College

Aleks Samets & Marco van Gemeren

Source: Kaggle via The Wall Street Journal

College Salaries by Region

The following chart compares the starting and mid-career median salaries of schools, coloring each school by its regions: California, Western, Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern. This chart includes 321 different schools.

The spread of starting median salaries is similar across schools in each region. However, in regard to mid-career median salary, several elite schools in the Northeast and California regions have six-figure mid-career median salaries, unlike most schools in other regions.

For each region, we've listed the three top-paying schools:

  • California
    • Stanford University
    • Harvey Mudd College
    • California Institute of Technology
  • Western
    • Colorado School of Mines
    • University of Colorado @ Boulder
    • New Mexico Tech
  • Midwestern
    • University of Notre Dame
    • University of Chicago
    • Illinois Tech
  • Southern
    • Rice University
    • Georgetown University
    • Duke University
  • Northeastern
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Princeton University
    • Dartmouth College

Left-click the bars on the right to filter the graph. Mouse over the points on the dot plot to identify each school and its details.

College Salaries by Type

The following chart compares the starting and mid-career median salaries of schools, coloring each school by its type: Engineering, Party, Liberal Arts, Ivy League, and State. This chart includes 270 different schools.

Ivy League schools tend to have the highest starting and mid-career median salaries, no lower than $105,000 for mid-career salaries. State schools have the largest spread of both starting and mid-career salaries, but tend to be lower than Ivies overall. Engineering schools also have a somewhat wide spread but tend to gravitate toward higher starting salaries. Liberal Arts colleges tend to have higher mid-career salaries than state schools, but similar starting salaries. Surprisingly, party schools fare well among mid-career salaries compared to most state schools.

For each type, we've listed the three top-paying schools:

  • Engineering
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Harvey Mudd College
    • California Institute of Technology
  • Party
    • University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign
    • University of Maryland @ College Park
    • University of California @ Santa Barbara
  • Liberal Arts
    • Bucknell University
    • Colgate University
    • Lafayette College
  • Ivy League
    • Dartmouth College
    • Princeton University
    • Harvard University
  • State
    • University of California @ Berkeley
    • University of Virginia
    • Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Left-click the bars on the right to filter the graph. Mouse over the points on the dot plot to identify each school and its details.

College Salaries by Major

The following chart compares the starting and mid-career median salaries of different majors. This chart includes 51 different degrees / majors.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) majors dominate the upper-most starting and mid-career salaries (e.g. Chemical Engineering, Computer Science). Economics is also amongst the highest-paying majors, in stark contrast to most social sciences. Spanish, Religion, and Education tend to gravitate towards the bottom.

We have listed the five top-paying majors below:

  • Physician Assistant
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Aerospace Engineering

Mouse over the points on the dot plot to identify each major and its details.

Your Turn: Compare Schools

Now it's your turn! Scroll back up and select schools that interest you by left-clicking on their points in each graph. Come back here for a comparative analysis of their median salaries.

Selection is limited to no more than eight schools. You may deselect schools by clicking on their respective points on any graph where they are included (second left-click).

Once selections are made, the charts on the right will update.

Your Turn: Compare Majors

Now it's your turn part two! Scroll back up and select majors that interest you by left-clicking on their points in each graph. Come back here for a comparative analysis of their median salaries.

Selection is limited to no more than eight majors. You may deselect majors by clicking on their respective points on any graph where they are included (second left-click).

Once selections are made, the charts on the right will update.