Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Mathematics

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

Quick answer

For Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $174,951. 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	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$174,951	$9,751	126	98.8
2	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$172,826	$12,000	169	98.2
3	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$141,171	$9,644	151	98.2
4	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$134,785	$10,859	135	97.8
5	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$297,029	$9,500	53	97.5
6	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$134,455	$13,500	93	96.2
7	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$168,580	$11,617	45	96.1
8	Amherst College Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$124,324	$13,900	89	95.2
9	WC Williams College Williamstown, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$134,304	$13,807	53	94.6
10	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$107,072	$12,418	62	92.9
11	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$101,599	$15,127	137	92.7
12	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,127	$15,000	200	92.6
13	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$99,269	$14,920	193	92.4
14	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$127,760	$17,500	50	90.7
15	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,127	$15,000	50	90.4
16	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$111,072	$18,000	85	89.4
17	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$93,022	$16,111	122	89
18	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,512	$17,750	38	87.6
19	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$143,223	-	53	86.9
20	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$159,954	-	43	86.5
21	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$98,497	$18,700	77	86.1
22	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$117,252	-	63	85.8
23	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$122,099	-	56	85.7
24	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$111,773	$20,000	82	85.4
25	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$91,236	$17,468	87	85.4
26	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$99,689	$19,500	260	85
27	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$101,438	$20,080	226	84.8
28	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$109,146	$20,675	212	84.7
29	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$88,967	$16,500	76	84.5
30	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$125,084	$21,750	88	84.4
31	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$113,570	-	26	82.8
32	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$91,832	$19,500	137	82.2
33	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,391	$17,000	132	82
34	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$90,635	$19,258	117	82
35	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$92,118	$19,000	39	81.9
36	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$92,594	$19,949	57	80.7
37	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$83,187	$16,636	62	80
38	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$105,768	$23,250	83	79.9
39	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$88,434	$19,500	358	79.9
40	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$82,191	$15,475	51	79.6
41	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Master's Degree	$95,395	-	24	78.9
42	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$83,211	$16,275	32	78.8
43	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$94,178	$22,000	70	78.8
44	Boston University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$84,784	$19,250	135	78.3
45	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$79,015	$16,250	239	78
46	Bentley University Waltham, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$101,971	$19,334	4	77.7
47	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$112,896	-	0	77.5
48	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$89,349	-	42	77.4
49	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$91,342	-	28	77.3
50	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$87,170	$20,000	81	77.1

Filter Mathematics by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Mathematics

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$100,127	91%	90.4
2	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$111,773	63%	85.4
3	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$88,967	72%	84.5
4	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$105,768	63%	79.9
5	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$112,896	61%	77.5
6	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$112,187	77%	75.4
7	Drake University Des Moines, IA Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$91,704	64%	75
8	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$74,659	64%	73.8
9	California State University-Chico Chico, CA Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,891	93%	72.7
10	Adelphi University Garden City, NY Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$86,028	66%	72.5
11	Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$88,379	61%	72
12	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ Strong Mathematics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$91,736	62%	71.8

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 Mathematics field (CIP 27.01) 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 Mathematics 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 Mathematics program?+

By our outcome score, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts) ranks #1 for Mathematics, with median graduate earnings of $174,951.

How are these Mathematics 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 Mathematics 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

Mathematics 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.