Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Neuroscience

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

Quick answer

For Neuroscience, University of Southern California (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $89,203. 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 Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$89,203	$14,000	121	94.2
2	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$90,917	$11,900	48	92.5
3	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,295	$12,000	132	89.9
4	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$143,067	$18,061	40	87.8
5	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$77,478	$19,500	237	82.8
6	Emory University Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$73,795	$17,421	167	82.6
7	Brown University Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$73,645	$9,250	51	82.4
8	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$73,140	$12,645	96	82
9	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$148,833	-	13	80.5
10	Lafayette College Easton, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$82,698	-	46	79
11	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Doctoral Degree	$89,197	-	20	78.8
12	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Doctoral Degree	$87,403	-	19	78.1
13	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$84,790	$22,863	27	77.3
14	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$75,342	-	86	77.2
15	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$74,151	$22,802	112	75.2
16	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,617	$24,000	118	74.7
17	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$71,942	$20,547	145	74.5
18	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$78,722	$23,250	34	74.1
19	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,027	$19,000	62	72
20	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,617	$24,000	-	71.8
21	University of New Hampshire at Manchester Manchester, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$78,722	$23,250	13	71.4
22	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,720	$12,917	519	70.7
23	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$68,480	$21,134	260	70.6
24	Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$82,259	$26,280	27	69.2
25	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$68,546	$19,727	70	68.4
26	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,696	$13,264	61	67.9
27	Barnard College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$66,787	$17,491	40	67.1
28	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$65,458	$19,500	116	66.3
29	Boston University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$68,888	$24,325	147	66.3
30	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,910	$25,000	100	66.1
31	King's College Wilkes-Barre, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$83,705	$27,000	12	65.7
32	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$60,065	$12,344	113	64.9
33	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$73,316	$25,000	45	64.7
34	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$70,244	$24,812	81	64.7
35	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,239	$21,500	189	64.3
36	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$61,799	$19,000	179	63.1
37	Stonehill College Easton, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$71,703	$23,000	10	63
38	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$62,332	$17,000	50	62.5
39	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$65,392	$19,500	49	62.3
40	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$65,124	$23,250	264	61.9
41	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$59,575	$16,000	103	61
42	Union College	Bachelor's Degree	$68,666	$24,500	31	59.7
43	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$68,179	$26,000	60	58
44	Trinity College Hartford, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$67,115	$24,022	26	57.9
45	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$59,498	$19,500	257	57.1
46	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$56,324	$12,750	128	56.1
47	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,714	$22,300	205	55.9
48	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$58,824	$21,202	293	54.4
49	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$56,869	$15,687	103	54.2
50	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,063	$25,668	101	53.7

Filter Neuroscience by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Neuroscience

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Binghamton University Vestal, NY Strong Neuroscience outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,478	39%	82.8
2	Lafayette College Easton, PA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$82,698	31%	79
3	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$84,790	26%	77.3
4	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$78,722	88%	74.1
5	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$69,027	66%	72
6	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$74,617	-	71.8
7	University of New Hampshire at Manchester Manchester, NH Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$78,722	81%	71.4
8	Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$82,259	72%	69.2
9	University of San Diego San Diego, CA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$72,910	52%	66.1
10	King's College Wilkes-Barre, PA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$83,705	93%	65.7
11	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI Strong Neuroscience outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$73,316	90%	64.7
12	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Strong Neuroscience outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,239	58%	64.3

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 Neuroscience field (CIP 26.15) 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 Neuroscience 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 Neuroscience program?+

By our outcome score, University of Southern California (California) ranks #1 for Neuroscience, with median graduate earnings of $89,203.

How are these Neuroscience 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 Neuroscience 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

Neuroscience 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.