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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

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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

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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.