Ranking: Wall Street Journal’s 2024 Best Colleges In America

SCHOOLS RANKED BY SALARY IMPACT

Here, three of the top 20 schools are public institutions, including No. 7 Missouri University of Science & Technology.

Still, the Ivies and big brand powerhouses still dominate. Think Stanford, Harvard, and Princeton. University of Pennsylvania comes out on top with a salary score of 99.1.

The salary impact rating looks at the impact the school has on its graduates’ salaries in relation to the cost of attending. While the schools at the top generally have high price tags, the salaries their graduates earn 10 years later make up for the high cost. As one example, a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania earns an average starting salary of $100,665 three months after graduation, and up to $111,902 with bonuses, according to Poets&Quants most recent undergraduate business school ranking.

Below, you can see the 20 schools with the highest salary impact from WSJ’s ranking. More detail and the full list can be found here. 

Rank	School	State	Score
1	University of Pennsylvania	PA	99.1
2	Princeton University	NJ	98.9
3	Columbia University	NY	98.4
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	98.2
5	Harvard University	MA	97.3
6	Stanford University	CA	97.1
7	Missouri University of Science & Technology	MO	96.9
8	Claremont McKenna College	CA	96.7
9	Yale University	CT	96.3
10	Babson College	MA	96
11	Georgetown University	DC	95.6
12	Michigan Technological University	MI	95
13	Brigham Young University	UT	94.6
14	Lehigh University	PA	9.4
15	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	94
16	Illinois Institute of Technology	IL	94
17	Duke University	NC	93
18	Vanderbilt University	TN	92.9
19	Amherst College	MA	92.6
20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	92.5

 

STUDENT EXPERIENCE AND SOCIAL MOBILITY

The WSJ/College Pulse Student Experience ranking looks at the schools where students enjoy waking up to go to class.

Student perceptions were measured by an independent survey of verified college students and recent graduates. In this category, public schools have the edge claiming 13 of the top 20 spots. 

Dalton State College in Georgia has the best score in this category at 75.6. It also scored a 77 in community and social life and 81 in diversity. The average net price of attendance is $5,240 with a value added to graduate salaries of $14,230.

See the top 20 schools for student experience in the table below. For the full list and more school detail, click here.

Rank	School	State	Score
1	Dalton State College	GA	75.6
2	California Baptist University	CA	75.5
3	University of Houston – Downtown	TX	74.4
4	Savannah State University	GA	74.3
5	Alcorn State University	MS	73
6	Florida Institute of Technology	FL	72.8
7	Texas Woman’s University	TX	72.3
8	Oral Roberts University	OK	72.1
9	Pomona College	CA	71.9
10	Florida International University	FL	71.7
11	University of La Verne	CA	71.7
12	California State University – San Marcos	CA	71.5
13	Southern New Hampshire University	NH	71.3
14	Clayton State University	GA	71.2
15	California State University – Fresno	CA	71.1
16	University of California – Los Angeles	CA	71
17	Prairie View A & M University	TX	70.9
18	California State University – Sacramento	CA	70.9
19	Iona University	NY	70.7
20	California State University – Northridge	CA	70.6

For social mobility, WSJ looked at how much schools enhance students’ social mobility after graduation. Institutions with the highest proportion of students that come from lower-income families, high graduation rates, high salary impact for graduates, and lower costs do the best in this metric. 

Again, public schools dominate here with 16 of the top 20 spots.

California State University – Los Angeles is the best school for social mobility at 99.6. It scored a perfect 100 in salary and a 99 in graduation rate. It has an average net price of $2,037 with a value added graduate salary of $26,419.

A table with the top 20 schools for social mobility is presented below. For the full list and more school detail, click here.

Rank	School	State	Score
1	California State University – Los Angele	CA	99.6
2	University of California – Merced	CA	99.6
3	Berea College	KY	99.5
4	Fresno Pacific University	CA	99.3
5	California State University – Northridge	CA	98.8
6	California State University – Fresno	CA	98.6
7	Baruch College	NY	97.5
8	University of Illinois – Chicago	IL	97.1
9	Florida International University	FL	97.1
10	California State University – Sacramento	CA	97
11	California State Polytechnic University – Pomona	CA	96.9
12	University of La Verne	CA	96.2
13	Albion College	MI	96.2
14	California State University – Long Beach	CA	95.3
15	California State University – Monterey Bay	CA	94.6
16	Montclair State University	NJ	94.5
17	California State University – San Marcos	CA	94.2
18	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	93
19	San Francisco State University	CA	92.3
20	The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	91.6

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