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Linda A Cicero/Stanford University/Facebook
With the average student-loan debt currently hovering around $37,000 , it makes perfect sense that students and parents consider average post-graduation earnings while looking at schools.
While pay potential shouldn't be the only thing that attracts you to a particular college or university, it is helpful to know what you can expect, in terms of pay, once you join the working world.
PayScale , the creator of the world's largest compensation database, recently looked at the starting and mid-career pay for over a million college grads — including professionals who graduated with a bachelor's from 963 colleges and universities.
For its College Salary Report , which was compiled using data from employees who successfully completed PayScale ' s employee survey, PayScale sorted the results by college major, degree, and school.
Here are the 31 colleges where students with a bachelor's degree go on to earn the most money in the first five years of their career:
Facebook/Santa Clara University
31. Santa Clara University
Early career median pay: $61,900
Mid-career median pay: $121,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,486
Via Wikimedia Commons
30. University of Pennsylvania
Early career median pay: $62,200
Mid-career median pay: $124,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 11,548
Facebook/ArtCenter College of Design
28. (tie) ArtCenter College of Design
Early career median pay: $62,300
Mid-career median pay: $81,300
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,824
Tendenci Software/flickr
28. (tie) Rice University
Early career median pay: $62,300
Mid-career median pay: $113,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,926
wikipedia public domain
27. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Early career median pay: $62,400
Mid-career median pay: $87,700
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,633
Facebook/lehighu
26. Lehigh University
Early career median pay: $62,900
Mid-career median pay: $112,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,062
Via Wikimedia Commons
25. Michigan Technological University
Early career median pay: $63,000
Mid-career median pay: $102,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,658
Cornell University/Facebook
24. Cornell University
Early career median pay: $63,200
Mid-career median pay: $109,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 14,282
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology/Facebook
23. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Early career median pay: $63,300
Mid-career median pay: $101,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,471
Facebook/MissouriSandT
22. Missouri University of Science and Technology
Early career median pay: $63,400
Mid-career median pay: $101,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 6,520
Facebook/MSOE
21. Milwaukee School of Engineering
Early career median pay: $63,500
Mid-career median pay: $92,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,596
meunierd/Shutterstock
20. Columbia University
Early career median pay: $64,000
Mid-career median pay: $109,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 8,100
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Facebook
19. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Early career median pay: $ 64,400
Mid-career median pay: $110,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,618
Colorado School of Mines/Facebook
17. (tie) Colorado School of MinesEarly career median pay: $65,200
Mid-career median pay: $114,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,456
EllenSeptember/flickr
17. (tie) Harvard University
Early career median pay: $65,200
Mid-career median pay: $123,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 10,338
Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Facebook
15. (tie) Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Early career median pay: $65,300
Mid-career median pay: $112,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,235
Georgia Tech/Facebook
15. (tie) Georgia Institute of Technology
Early career median pay: $65,300
Mid-career median pay: $112,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 14,682
Stevens Institute of Technology/Facebook
14. Stevens Institute of TechnologyEarly career median pay: $65,600
Mid-career median pay: $117,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,892
(vincent desjardins)/flickr
12. (tie) Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art
Early career median pay: $65,700
Mid-career median pay: $110,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 893
Students on the University of Princeton campus.
Flickr / regexman
12. (tie) Princeton University
Early career median pay: $65,700
Mid-career median pay: $131,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,391
Kettering University/Facebook
11. Kettering University
Early career median pay: $66,300
Mid-career median pay: $105,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,732
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology/Facebook
10. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Early career median pay: $67,500
Mid-career median pay: $108,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,280
Jaime de la Fuente/flickr
9. Loma Linda University
Early career median pay: $68,500
Mid-career median pay: $82,400
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,189
Wikimedia Commons
8. United States Air Force Academy
Early career median pay: $68,800
Mid-career median pay: $124,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,952
Flickr/Miles Gehm
7. Carnegie Mellon UniversityEarly career median pay: $69,400
Mid-career median pay: $119,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,888
SUNY Maritime College/Facebook
6. SUNY — Maritime College
Early career median pay: $69,700
Mid-career median pay: $144,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,641
Linda A Cicero/Stanford University/Facebook
5. Stanford University
Early career median pay: $70,800
Mid-career median pay: $127,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 7,019
Wikimedia Commons
4. United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
Early career median pay: $72,900
Mid-career median pay: $125,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,511
Wikimedia Commons
3. United States Military Academy at West Point
Early career median pay: $76,000
Mid-career median pay: $126,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,414
A man walks through Killian Court at MIT in Cambridge
Thomson Reuters
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Early career median pay: $78,300
Mid-career median pay: $134,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,512
Harvey Mudd College/Facebook
1. Harvey Mudd College
Early career median pay: $78,500
Mid-career median pay: $131,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 804
