Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Economics

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

Quick answer

For Economics, Harvard University (Massachusetts) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $155,592. 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	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$155,592	$6,617	186	98.1
2	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$159,578	$13,395	634	97.8
3	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$161,149	$13,187	209	97.3
4	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$160,763	$11,250	122	97.1
5	Yale University New Haven, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$142,936	$12,562	204	96.6
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$140,337	$12,000	251	96.6
7	WC Williams College Williamstown, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$166,678	$12,925	107	96.5
8	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$135,050	$12,650	799	96.4
9	Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$146,524	$12,000	129	96.4
10	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$137,935	$15,000	182	94.4
11	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$129,985	$14,621	234	94.4
12	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$128,882	$12,250	132	94.3
13	Brown University Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$124,508	$13,000	215	93.7
14	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$129,575	$11,644	75	93.5
15	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$126,006	$15,250	335	93.1
16	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$152,929	$18,132	170	93.1
17	Amherst College Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$141,730	$16,662	91	92.5
18	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,787	$11,190	92	91.8
19	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$128,887	$17,500	143	91.2
20	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$130,633	$17,500	88	90.6
21	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$123,809	$17,850	198	90.3
22	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$118,999	$15,500	181	90.1
23	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,337	$18,000	354	89.4
24	Stanford University Stanford, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$112,700	$12,500	108	89.4
25	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$122,637	$19,000	245	88.1
26	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$103,846	$14,135	449	87.6
27	Bates College Lewiston, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$110,880	$13,000	68	86.9
28	Barnard College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$111,909	$16,250	92	86.5
29	Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$122,998	$18,628	60	86.4
30	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,773	$18,423	465	86.2
31	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$128,051	$19,500	80	86.1
32	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$123,477	$19,500	111	85.8
33	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$110,552	$18,750	618	85.3
34	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$116,510	$19,767	541	85
35	Duke University Durham, NC	Master's Degree	$140,750	-	64	85
36	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$98,178	$13,440	656	84.6
37	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,307	$19,500	108	84.4
38	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$121,983	$19,500	78	84.3
39	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$102,439	$14,805	105	84.2
40	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$144,886	$22,020	55	83.7
41	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,724	$16,500	46	83.6
42	Lafayette College Easton, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$112,864	$19,500	140	83.4
43	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$121,910	-	95	82.4
44	Trinity College Hartford, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$122,068	$21,500	119	82.3
45	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$162,229	-	15	82.2
46	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$95,227	$11,000	145	82.1
47	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,440	$15,000	861	81.9
48	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	Master's Degree	$128,586	-	29	81.2
49	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$137,710	$25,000	327	81.2
50	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$94,435	$13,850	210	81

Filter Economics by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Economics

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$121,307	48%	84.4
2	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$128,586	61%	81.2
3	Elon University Elon, NC Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$112,303	66%	80.3
4	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$115,251	62%	78.4
5	George Washington University Washington, DC Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,406	47%	75.7
6	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$91,701	63%	75
7	Occidental College Los Angeles, CA Strong Economics outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$103,164	44%	73.8
8	Fordham University Bronx, NY Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$105,001	59%	72.2
9	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$104,943	63%	71.4
10	Hobart William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$111,833	64%	71.1
11	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$106,753	81%	71.1
12	Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$118,557	57%	70.4

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 Economics field (CIP 45.06) 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 Economics 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 Economics program?+

By our outcome score, Harvard University (Massachusetts) ranks #1 for Economics, with median graduate earnings of $155,592.

How are these Economics 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 Economics 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).

Keep exploring

Economics rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

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. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.