Think you know the best college in the U.S. when it comes to the earnings power of graduates? If you're thinking Harvard, Yale or Brown, you're wrong.
A new Brookings Institution report reveals the California Institute of Technology, Colgate University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the top three higher learning institutions where alumni are making the top bucks years after graduation. Other top schools on the list are:
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Carleton College
Washington and Lee University
SUNY Maritime Academy
Clarkson University
Manhattan College
Stanford University
The ranking measures how well graduates do in three financial areas: mid-career earnings, earnings power and student loan repayment. The five specific factors that play a key role in how well graduates do after college are their curriculm value, alumni skills, STEM orientation, completion rates and student aid.
"The Ivy League does very well by their students and the students come out earning fantastically high salaries," stated Jonathan Rothwell, a fellow in Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program and a co-author of the report. "At the same time, they come in with extremely high test scores from extremely affluent families. So you'd expect them to do well."
According to the report, "Beyond College Rankings," a Cal Tech alumnus, with 10 years of work experience, is making 49 percent more money in salary than peers who graduated from other colleges. The average Cal Tech graduate is earning $126,200 each year. Colgate grads are earning more than $126,600 annually.
Here is the top 10 list when it comes to occupational earnings power:
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Colorado School of Mines
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
California Institute of Technology
Lawrence Technological University
Harvey Mudd College
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Missouri University of Science and Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
According to the report, a college's curriculum, as well as its majors and what it provides in specific skills all play into alumni earnings potential.
"The findings here relating various quality measures to economic success are consistent with a growing body of evidence showing that policies and programs offered by colleges have important effects on the economic lives of students and surrounding communities," stated the report's summary. "Specifically, financial aid and other less precisely measured student support programs can dramatically boost graduation rates and thus future student success."
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