When choosing where to attend university, many people specifically opt for an Ivy League education because they assume they will receive the best possible education and the opportunity for the finest and highest-paying positions after graduation. However, new data supports that Ivy League schools don’t always produce the wealthiest graduates.

These colleges and universities are ranked by the highest mid-career earnings, which are calculated by averaging alumni salaries with over ten years of experience. But we also know the average early career pay, meaning how much students make the first five years after graduation, and even the percentage of graduates who agree their jobs are meaningful for themselves and the world.

Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is certainly one of the country’s smaller universities with only 7,000 students. However, it produces some of the most successful graduates.

The University of California Berkeley is well-known as one of the most impressive state schools in the country. Graduates often go on to work for major corporations like Amazon, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays.

The vast majority of graduates from the US Air Force Academy go to extremely well-respected careers after their five year service commitment. And they make quite a bit of money in those positions.

While some of the schools on this list are quite predicable, others are extremely surprising. For example, did you know that the Colorado School of Mines produces some of the wealthiest grads in the country?

With a mid-career pay of $149,800 and an early career earnings average of $77,600, Dartmouth grads are certainly making a great living.

Williams College is a small private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, founded almost 150 years ago in 1793. Today, it produces some seriously successful graduates, most of whom got their degrees in biology or economics.

Located on a tiny island in the Bronx, New York, SUNY Maritime College has one of the most beautiful and interesting campuses, as well as some of the wealthiest grads.

More than 95% of graduates from Stevens Institute of Technology land jobs within six months of graduation day, and the average early career earnings is amazing at $80,400.

Though small, Claremont McKenna College is well-known for its economic, computer sciences, and international relations programs, and, of course, for the successful graduates it produces.

Yale University, while one of the most prestigious schools on the planet, is only number 13 on our list. However, that doesn’t mean it’s grads don’t make a lot of money.

Some of the top employers of Colgate University grads include big names like Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, the National Institutes of Health, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The world-famous University of Pennsylvania just barely missed being in the top 10 list of colleges that produce the wealthiest grads. 

Although the California Institute of Technology is number ten on this list, according to Bankrate, it does offer the best value for research opportunities. Additionally, UniversityHQ reported that Caltech graduates can expect to make over $2.5 million in 20 years.

The United States Military Academy has long been considered one of the best educational institutions in the country. While students first enter an Army unit for at least three years after graduation, they then go on to exceptionally rewarding careers.

With only 9,000 students, Santa Clara University is a small but very well-respected institution. As a matter of fact, students from Santa Clara University typically find employment within just six months of graduation.

Number seven on this list is the lesser-known but equally prestigious Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Babson reports that 99% of its graduates are gainfully employed or attending graduate school within six months of completing their bachelor’s degree.

It may surprise some readers that Harvard University does not produce one of the top five wealthiest groups of graduates, though it is number six on the list. Harvard grads often work in finance, consulting, or technology, and more than two-thirds of all graduates are immediately paid $70,000 or more per year.

Next is Stanford University in California, most of whose graduates go on to work at famous Silicon Valley-based companies like Amazon, Linkedin, or Meta.

Only 1,100 people graduate from the United States Naval Academy every year, but the majority of these former students go on to wildly successful careers in nuclear power, technology, naval aviation, or submarine warfare.

Princeton University is well-known for its focus on business. In fact, half of the school’s graduates go on to work in the business field. Though others find careers in health care, technology, and engineering.

Stacker defines early career earnings as the salaries for alumni with 0-5 years of experience after graduation. And although Harvey Mudd College has the second-highest mid-career pay or any institution, it has the highest early-career pay average.

Finally, the Ivy League school with the wealthiest graduates is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as MIT. While many MIT grads go on to graduate school at a top institution like Harvard, Princeton, or Stanford, others go straight into their careers with their already prestigious degree.