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Best Colleges for Chemistry

50 Chemistry programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Chemistry, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $168,396. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Doctoral Degree	$168,396	—	72	89.3
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Doctoral Degree	$137,404	—	50	87.7
3	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$136,333	—	48	87.2
4	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	Doctoral Degree	$148,634	—	36	86.9
5	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$132,569	—	48	86.7
6	Stanford University Stanford, CA	Doctoral Degree	$170,898	—	31	86.5
7	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Doctoral Degree	$125,069	—	54	86.4
8	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$82,386	$11,077	126	86.2
9	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Doctoral Degree	$123,152	—	57	86.2
10	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Doctoral Degree	$139,296	—	32	86.1
11	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Doctoral Degree	$131,278	—	46	86.1
12	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Doctoral Degree	$137,217	—	31	85.4
13	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Doctoral Degree	$116,234	—	56	84.7
14	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Doctoral Degree	$135,654	—	27	84.3
15	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Doctoral Degree	$117,395	—	43	84.2
16	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Doctoral Degree	$115,831	—	49	83.8
17	Yale University New Haven, CT	Doctoral Degree	$125,373	—	28	83.7
18	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	Doctoral Degree	$119,626	—	31	83.4
19	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Doctoral Degree	$123,298	—	26	82.9
20	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA	Doctoral Degree	$115,630	—	37	82.6
21	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Doctoral Degree	$114,619	—	36	82.2
22	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Doctoral Degree	$119,378	—	25	82
23	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	Doctoral Degree	$118,789	—	26	81.9
24	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Doctoral Degree	$105,406	—	56	81.7
25	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Doctoral Degree	$111,674	—	35	81.2
26	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	Doctoral Degree	$132,367	—	13	80.4
27	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$107,724	—	36	80.4
28	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Doctoral Degree	$116,010	—	24	80.4
29	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	Doctoral Degree	$117,141	—	21	80.2
30	University of Delaware Newark, DE	Doctoral Degree	$112,400	—	27	80.1
31	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Doctoral Degree	$100,761	—	42	80
32	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$79,311	$15,121	43	80
33	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$79,869	$16,738	42	79.5
34	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Doctoral Degree	$113,129	—	23	79.2
35	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	Doctoral Degree	$114,312	—	21	79
36	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$95,163	—	43	78.9
37	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Doctoral Degree	$109,307	—	26	78.8
38	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$79,736	$16,962	39	78.8
39	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,249	$16,050	346	78.4
40	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	Bachelor's Degree	$79,995	$14,910	23	78.2
41	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,810	$13,000	112	78
42	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	Doctoral Degree	$110,812	—	20	78
43	Villanova University Villanova, PA	Master's Degree	$109,388	—	21	77.8
44	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Doctoral Degree	$95,591	—	32	77.8
45	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$119,157	—	7	77.7
46	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	Master's Degree	$94,728	—	36	77.7
47	Emory University Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$79,034	$19,625	104	77.2
48	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	Master's Degree	$94,513	—	33	77.1
49	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,270	$18,033	52	76.7
50	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,713	$15,805	103	76.6

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Hidden Gems for Chemistry

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Chemistry — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Oregon Eugene, OR Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$117,141	88%	80.2
2	University of Delaware Newark, DE Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$112,400	71%	80.1
3	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$109,414	74%	75.7
4	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$94,846	96%	73.8
5	St. John's University-New York Queens, NY Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$101,669	83%	73.6
6	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,106	64%	73.1
7	Towson University Towson, MD Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$76,296	82%	71.5
8	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$71,348	66%	70.3
9	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$73,623	81%	69.8
10	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$90,396	62%	69.6
11	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$84,306	90%	69.5
12	Willamette University Salem, OR Strong Chemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$79,592	77%	68.5

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Chemistry field (CIP 40.05) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Chemistry programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Chemistry program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 for Chemistry, with median graduate earnings of $168,396.

How are these Chemistry programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Chemistry programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.