Forbes’ Best Colleges: MIT Holds No. 1 As UPenn & Caltech Climb

WHERE GRADUATES EARN THE MOST

Business and engineering schools feature prominently among the colleges with the highest reported median 10-year salaries post graduation — including several well outside the overall top 100.

University of Pennsylvania leads the salary comparison at $151,328. Kettering University, ranked No. 222 overall, comes next at $133,455, followed by Stevens Institute of Technology at $131,329. Both edge out overall ranking leader MIT, whose graduates have a reported median salary of $131,182.

Babson College rounds out the top five at $130,610. The business-focused school ranks 86th overall, another reminder that a college’s position on the full list tells only part of its career outcomes story. Bentley University, ranked No. 182, also makes a strong showing at $123,326.

One public institution stands out among these mostly private schools: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Despite finishing 312th overall, it posts a median alumni salary of $127,200, just above Stanford’s $126,916. Its reported average debt of $7,879 is also among the lowest in this group.

The table below shows 15 colleges with strong salary outcomes, alongside their overall ranks, average grant aid and average debt.

Forbes Top Colleges Highest Post-Grad Salaires
Rank	Name	State	Type	Av. Grant Aid	Av. Debt	Median 10-year Salary
5	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private not for profit	$65,458	$11,278	$151,328
222	Kettering University	MI	Private not for profit	$25,641	$11,736	$133,455
118	Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ	Private not for profit	$33,897	$12,571	$131,329
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private not for profit	$61,734	$11,176	$131,182
86	Babson College	MA	Private not for profit	$48,173	$9,822	$130,610
125	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering	MA	Private not for profit	$43,290	$6,807	$127,948
312	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	SD	Public	$5,334	$7,879	$127,200
6	Stanford University	CA	Private not for profit	$62,755	$11,418	$126,916
190	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	Private not for profit	$31,545	$12,372	$125,702
134	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	Private not for profit	$43,517	$8,964	$124,697
79	Lehigh University	PA	Private not for profit	$46,731	$10,642	$124,208
182	Bentley University	MA	Private not for profit	$33,673	$13,215	$123,326
155	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	IN	Private not for profit	$32,484	$13,849	$122,648
25	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private not for profit	$48,107	$8,203	$122,362
2	Princeton University	NJ	Private not for profit	$68,727	$9,046	$121,773

ROI: PRINCETON LEADS, BUT CUNY DOMINATES

High salaries are only part of the college payoff equation. What students actually pay to earn those degrees — and how much debt follows them out the door — matters, too.

Princeton University rose from third to first in Forbes’ separate ranking of The 25 Colleges With The Highest Payoff. Its generous financial aid helps explain how an elite private university with a hefty sticker price can also deliver strong value. According to Forbes, Princeton covers tuition, food and housing for most families earning under $150,000, while most families earning up to $250,000 receive enough aid to cover tuition.

But public colleges dominate the next stretch of the list. City University of New York campuses claim seven of the top 10 spots, led by Hunter College at No. 2 and Brooklyn College at No. 3. Queens and Lehman round out the top five, followed by Baruch at No. 6.

Their advantage is straightforward: relatively low tuition, the ability for many students to save money by living at home, and access to New York City’s job market.

Baruch offers a particularly compelling example. Forbes lists its annual in-state tuition and fees at $7,464 for 2024–2025, alongside a reported median base salary of $113,835 a decade after graduation. Hunter’s comparable figures are $7,382 and $99,517.

To build the ROI ranking, Forbes used think tank Third Way’s calculation of how long it takes graduates to recover their net degree costs after grants and scholarships. It also considered a borrowing index that combines median federal debt per borrower with the share of students taking out federal loans.

Forbes’ Top 25 Colleges For ROI
ROI Rank	Overall Rank	Name	In-State Tuition & Fees	Out-of-State Tuition & Fees	Av. Grant Aid	Av. Debt	Median 10-year Salary
1	2	Princeton University	$62,688		$68,727	$9,046	$121,773
2	169	CUNY Hunter College	$7,382	$15,332	$9,755	$7,107	$99,517
3	150	CUNY Brooklyn College	$7,452	$15,402	$9,482	$7,386	$103,370
4	138	CUNY Queens College	$7,358	$15,488	$9,057	$6,042	$104,801
5	368	CUNY Lehman College	$7,410	$15,360	$10,151	$5,044	$96,130
6	106	CUNY Baruch College	$7,464	$15,414	$10,114	$5,856	$113,835
7	6	Stanford University	$65,910		$62,755	$11,418	$126,916
8	309	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	$7,470	$15,420	$9,966	$7,411	$96,701
9	102	CUNY City College of New York	$7,340	$15,290	$9,763	$5,559	$105,796
10	7	California Institute of Technology	$65,898		$72,373	$11,846	$117,278
11	16	Rice University	$64,144		$56,199	$10,792	$109,721
12	1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$62,396		$61,734	$11,176	$131,182
13	3	Harvard University	$61,676		$68,015	$12,445	$119,708
14	34	University of Florida	$6,381	$28,659	$10,846	$6,988	$106,402
15	468	California State University, Dominguez Hills	$7,449	$20,049	$13,951	$4,679	$94,317
16	17	University of Chicago	$70,662		$62,300	$17,312	$107,812
17	19	Williams College	$68,560		$68,966	$10,614	$111,600
18	4	Columbia University	$71,845		$67,010	$17,037	$117,010
19	286	California State University, Stanislaus	$8,246	$20,846	$12,492	$4,896	$101,548
20	215	California State University, Los Angeles	$7,160	$17,760	$13,824	$5,017	$93,973
21	10	Vanderbilt University	$67,498		$64,404	$12,263	$115,467
22	355	CUNY College of Staten Island	$7,490	$15,440	$8,526	$7,174	$98,624
23	55	Brigham Young University	$6,688		$6,088	$5,759	$114,493
24	323	California State University, Bakersfield	$8,090	$20,690	$12,966	$4,554	$101,611
25	11	Johns Hopkins University	$65,230		$59,977	$11,969	$111,678

 

METHODOLOGY

Forbes considered about 1,600 public and nonprofit institutions before selecting its top 500. It excluded schools planning to close, those with fewer than 300 undergraduates, those missing four or more metrics and the five federal military academies.

It evaluated four-year colleges using data from IPEDS, the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard, PayScale, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and its own lists of influential alumni.

The seven category weights include:

• Alumni Salary (20%) – Earnings three, six, 10 and 20 years after graduation.
• Debt (15%) – Federal borrowing and repayment.
• Graduation Rate (15%) – Six-year completion, including Pell Grant recipients.
• Forbes American Leaders (15%) – Alumni leadership and major honors.
• Return on Investment (15%) – Degree costs relative to earnings premiums, including low-income students.
• Retention Rate (10%) – First-year students returning for a second year.
• Academic Success (10%) – Scholarships and PhD production.

NEXT PAGE: Forbes’ Top 50 Colleges

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.