Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Finance

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

Quick answer

For Finance, University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $202,069. 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 Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$202,069	$12,999	398	99.1
2	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$152,744	$15,750	214	95.2
3	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$129,879	$11,625	198	94.3
4	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$147,746	$18,000	325	94.2
5	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$160,313	$19,000	260	93.6
6	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$185,551	$19,500	181	92.4
7	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$133,852	$19,439	290	91.4
8	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$118,737	$14,490	160	90.7
9	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$110,240	$14,500	256	89.9
10	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$145,996	$19,500	147	89.9
11	George Washington University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$126,638	$18,148	119	89.4
12	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$112,319	$16,671	307	89.3
13	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$115,013	$15,363	128	89.1
14	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$132,075	$20,500	407	88.6
15	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$119,978	$19,500	301	87.6
16	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Master's Degree	$165,087	-	168	87.2
17	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$106,153	$16,681	248	86.6
18	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$111,304	$19,000	212	86.6
19	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	Bachelor's Degree	$129,850	$21,250	249	86.2
20	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$135,516	$20,500	62	85.9
21	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$110,648	$19,500	376	85.8
22	Bentley University Waltham, MA	Master's Degree	$131,993	$20,500	67	85.1
23	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Master's Degree	$173,875	-	38	84.2
24	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$107,207	$20,181	463	83.8
25	Villanova University Villanova, PA	Master's Degree	$164,343	-	-	83.6
26	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK	Bachelor's Degree	$106,719	$19,500	196	83.2
27	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$109,303	$19,500	115	83.1
28	American University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$134,332	$22,625	75	83
29	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Master's Degree	$164,371	-	28	82.8
30	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	Master's Degree	$120,292	-	161	82.2
31	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$97,452	$13,856	295	82.1
32	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$135,370	-	-	82
33	Boston University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$117,293	-	216	82
34	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$127,210	$23,250	197	82
35	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$102,286	$19,500	253	81.7
36	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$110,406	$21,788	348	81.7
37	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$132,021	-	42	81.7
38	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$104,926	$19,500	140	81.7
39	Elon University Elon, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$103,426	$19,500	152	81.5
40	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX	Master's Degree	$121,970	-	75	81.3
41	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$131,086	-	41	81.2
42	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$100,793	$18,408	175	81
43	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$97,364	$17,500	544	80.4
44	Fordham University Bronx, NY	Master's Degree	$201,439	-	0	80.3
45	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Master's Degree	$128,956	-	-	80.3
46	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$127,821	-	37	80.2
47	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$316,195	$41,000	255	80.1
48	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$177,848	-	0	79.8
49	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	Bachelor's Degree	$100,938	$19,500	219	79.6
50	Fordham University Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$141,860	$26,870	229	79.6

Filter Finance by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Finance

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$132,021	89%	81.7
2	Elon University Elon, NC Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$103,426	66%	81.5
3	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$121,970	99%	81.3
4	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$97,452	83%	78.9
5	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$100,695	71%	77.8
6	Belmont University Nashville, TN Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$124,270	95%	77.7
7	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$134,158	75%	77.6
8	Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$116,716	84%	77.1
9	Suffolk University Boston, MA Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$133,979	82%	77.1
10	University of Denver Denver, CO Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,135	78%	76.8
11	Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$131,706	75%	76.6
12	University of Scranton Scranton, PA Strong Finance outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$118,845	81%	76.2

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 Finance field (CIP 52.08) 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 Finance 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 Finance program?+

By our outcome score, University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 for Finance, with median graduate earnings of $202,069.

How are these Finance 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 Finance 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

Finance 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.