Colleges where graduates earn twice their debt
Four-year colleges where a year of former students' median earnings is at least twice the median federal debt at graduation, ranked by earnings.
Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition · Source: College Scorecard and IPEDS, latest data · 861 colleges · Last updated November 15, 2026 · Next check November 16, 2026
Ranked first
$166,642
California Institute of Technology CalTech (California), median earnings ten years after entry.
College Scorecard, latest data
Key findings
- Median qualifying college
- $65,009
- Median earnings ten years after entry.
- Colleges that qualify
- 861
- The top 50 are listed below.
- States
- 50
- 306 public and 555 private nonprofit colleges.
861 four-year colleges in 50 states meet every criterion on this page.
California Institute of Technology CalTech (California) ranks first, with median earnings of $166,642 ten years after entry.
The median qualifying college has median earnings of $65,009 ten years after entry.
306 qualifying colleges are public and 555 private nonprofit.
College by college
The ranking
Ranked by median earnings ten years after entry, highest first. Select a column heading to sort.
| California Institute of Technology CalTechCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 1 | $166,642 | $7,500 | 22.22× | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvey Mudd CollegeCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 2 | $164,248 | $25,000 | 6.57× | 93% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 3 | $152,553 | $14,000 | 10.90× | 96% |
| Princeton UniversityNew Jersey · Private nonprofit | 4 | $133,523 | $12,400 | 10.77× | 97% |
| Claremont McKenna College CMCCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 5 | $127,532 | $13,450 | 9.48× | 90% |
| Bentley UniversityMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 6 | $126,427 | $24,250 | 5.21× | 88% |
| Stanford UniversityCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 7 | $125,340 | $10,750 | 11.66× | 92% |
| Carnegie Mellon UniversityPennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 8 | $125,257 | $19,000 | 6.59× | 94% |
| Harvard UniversityMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 9 | $121,957 | $17,559 | 6.95× | 97% |
| University of Pennsylvania UPENNPennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 10 | $121,687 | $15,000 | 8.11× | 97% |
| Stevens Institute of TechnologyNew Jersey · Private nonprofit | 11 | $118,358 | $26,117 | 4.53× | 89% |
| Yale UniversityConnecticut · Private nonprofit | 12 | $118,356 | $11,982 | 9.88× | 96% |
| Santa Clara UniversityCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 13 | $117,193 | $19,500 | 6.01× | 87% |
| Lehigh UniversityPennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 14 | $116,342 | $21,371 | 5.44× | 85% |
| Villanova UniversityPennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 15 | $115,382 | $25,000 | 4.62× | 93% |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA TechGeorgia · Public | 16 | $114,210 | $19,500 | 5.86× | 94% |
| Duke UniversityNorth Carolina · Private nonprofit | 17 | $113,937 | $13,000 | 8.76× | 96% |
| Cornell University-New YorkNew York · Private nonprofit | 18 | $113,531 | $12,000 | 9.46× | 95% |
| Worcester Polytechnic InstituteMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 19 | $113,513 | $27,000 | 4.20× | 90% |
| University of Notre Dame-South Bend INIndiana · Private nonprofit | 20 | $113,124 | $19,000 | 5.95× | 95% |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute RPINew York · Private nonprofit | 21 | $113,011 | $24,250 | 4.66× | 80% |
| Boston CollegeMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 22 | $112,178 | $19,000 | 5.90× | 90% |
| Dartmouth CollegeNew Hampshire · Private nonprofit | 23 | $111,162 | $13,000 | 8.55× | 95% |
| Georgetown University-DCDistrict of Columbia · Private nonprofit | 24 | $110,516 | $14,746 | 7.49× | 94% |
| Bucknell UniversityPennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 25 | $109,954 | $26,486 | 4.15× | 85% |
| Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York · Private nonprofit | 26 | $109,430 | $20,500 | 5.34× | 95% |
| California State University Maritime AcademyCalifornia · Public | 27 | $105,475 | $23,644 | 4.46× | 58% |
| Johns Hopkins UniversityMaryland · Private nonprofit | 28 | $104,590 | $12,000 | 8.72× | 93% |
| Bryant UniversityRhode Island · Private nonprofit | 29 | $104,456 | $23,250 | 4.49× | 81% |
| Wake Forest UniversityNorth Carolina · Private nonprofit | 30 | $104,443 | $19,500 | 5.36× | 90% |
| Northwestern University-IllinoisIllinois · Private nonprofit | 31 | $104,255 | $17,017 | 6.13× | 96% |
| Massachusetts Maritime AcademyMassachusetts · Public | 32 | $104,098 | $25,000 | 4.16× | 73% |
| University of ChicagoIllinois · Private nonprofit | 33 | $103,872 | $12,000 | 8.66× | 95% |
| University of Southern California USCCalifornia · Private nonprofit | 34 | $103,420 | $17,000 | 6.08× | 90% |
| United States Merchant Marine AcademyNew York · Public | 35 | $103,283 | $5,500 | 18.78× | 78% |
| Trinity College-ConnecticutConnecticut · Private nonprofit | 36 | $103,089 | $24,000 | 4.30× | 83% |
| Washington and Lee UniversityVirginia · Private nonprofit | 37 | $102,966 | $17,500 | 5.88× | 96% |
| Lafayette CollegePennsylvania · Private nonprofit | 38 | $102,336 | $14,000 | 7.31× | 85% |
| Colorado School of MinesColorado · Public | 39 | $102,077 | $21,287 | 4.80× | 82% |
| Fairfield UniversityConnecticut · Private nonprofit | 40 | $101,587 | $25,000 | 4.06× | 85% |
| Maine Maritime AcademyMaine · Public | 41 | $101,511 | $27,000 | 3.76× | 58% |
| SUNY Maritime CollegeNew York · Public | 42 | $100,966 | $21,500 | 4.70× | 54% |
| College of the Holy CrossMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 43 | $100,485 | $21,500 | 4.67× | 86% |
| University of California-Berkeley CALCalifornia · Public | 44 | $100,212 | $12,416 | 8.07× | 94% |
| Brown UniversityRhode Island · Private nonprofit | 45 | $99,974 | $14,567 | 6.86× | 96% |
| Northeastern UniversityMassachusetts · Private nonprofit | 46 | $99,371 | $20,000 | 4.97× | 91% |
| Vanderbilt UniversityTennessee · Private nonprofit | 47 | $99,080 | $15,000 | 6.61× | 93% |
| Bates CollegeMaine · Private nonprofit | 48 | $98,373 | $12,250 | 8.03× | 88% |
| Barnard CollegeNew York · Private nonprofit | 49 | $98,280 | $15,000 | 6.55× | 92% |
| George Washington UniversityDistrict of Columbia · Private nonprofit | 50 | $96,691 | $19,857 | 4.87× | 83% |
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Use this for your family
These are medians. Your price and payback depend on your income, your state and the college, so run the numbers for the colleges on your list.
Methodology
- Colleges counted
- Every college published on CollegesRef that is public or private nonprofit, in a four-year Carnegie class (doctoral, master's or baccalaureate), in the 50 states or D.C., with at least 500 undergraduates and both figures reported in the College Scorecard.
- Criteria
- This list keeps four-year colleges that graduate at least 50% of students and whose median earnings are at least twice their median federal debt at graduation, then ranks them by median earnings ten years after entry. Closed colleges are left out.
3 more notes: exclusions, definitions, what it leaves out
- Exclusions
- For-profit colleges, two-year colleges, special-focus institutions, colleges with fewer undergraduates than the minimum, U.S. territories and colleges missing either figure are left out. Earnings figures without a federal reporting year are excluded.
- Definitions
- Median earnings are former students' earnings ten years after entry (College Scorecard MD_EARN_WNE_P10). Average net price is cost of attendance minus average grants for aided first-time, full-time students (NPT4). Median debt is federal loan debt at graduation (GRAD_DEBT_MDN). Graduation rate is the IPEDS rate reported in the Scorecard.
- What it leaves out
- A ranking on federal figures says nothing about teaching, fit or programs. Earnings are before tax and not specific to a major; prices are averages, so your family's price depends on its income and the college's aid.
Read the CollegesRef methodology for how college data is checked, or browse all data stories.
Sources
- Data
- U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports these figures from the IPEDS surveys and federal student aid records; Carnegie classes from IPEDS.
- Edition
- 2026–27, data verified Nov 2026
- Source data
- Latest College Scorecard release
- Last updated
- November 15, 2026
- Next check
- November 16, 2026. The figures are recomputed weekly and change only when the federal data does.
- License
- Federal data is a U.S. government work in the public domain. CollegesRef's tables, charts and CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
- Downloads
- CSVMarkdown (for AI tools)
Frequently asked questions
Short answers about how the numbers work.
How is this list ranked?
CollegesRef keeps four-year colleges that graduate at least 50% of students and whose median earnings are at least twice their median federal debt at graduation, and ranks them by median earnings ten years after entry, highest first. 861 colleges qualify; the top 50 are shown and the CSV holds the same rows.
Which college ranks first?
California Institute of Technology CalTech (California, private nonprofit), with median earnings ten years after entry of $166,642. The median qualifying college reports $65,009.
Where does the data come from?
The U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (latest data), which reports IPEDS cost and graduation figures and federal earnings and debt records. CollegesRef recomputes the list weekly from the latest snapshot.
How to cite
Credit CollegesRef and link to this story; the CSV above carries every figure on this page. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a visible link to this page. Questions go to Data and press.
Related guides and tools
Step-by-step explanations of the figures, written from the same federal data.