🎓

Best Colleges for Accounting

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

⚡Quick answer

For Accounting, University of Southern California (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $121,101. 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	$121,101	$16,491	160	95.9
2	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$126,461	$18,000	123	94.9
3	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$141,931	$17,500	53	94
4	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$130,087	$18,625	67	93.7
5	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	Master's Degree	$111,632	$14,194	40	92.9
6	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$118,946	$16,750	37	92.7
7	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Post-baccalaureate Certificate	$115,965	$12,500	—	92.6
8	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	Master's Degree	$113,283	$19,762	220	92.4
9	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$111,733	$14,750	35	92.3
10	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$115,909	$19,000	66	92.1
11	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$106,323	$17,500	171	91.4
12	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$103,662	$16,831	262	90.9
13	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$103,675	$16,200	75	90.1
14	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$96,632	$9,127	269	89.9
15	Touro University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$99,047	$11,000	64	89.7
16	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$105,143	$19,462	186	89.5
17	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$100,725	$16,000	102	89.3
18	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Master's Degree	$113,379	$20,500	89	89.2
19	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	Master's Degree	$112,249	$20,500	105	89.2
20	Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT	Master's Degree	$117,457	$20,500	57	89
21	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$101,938	$17,778	116	89
22	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA	Master's Degree	$110,498	$20,500	152	88.9
23	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	Master's Degree	$105,203	$17,950	52	88.7
24	Pace University New York, NY	Master's Degree	$115,804	$20,500	57	88.7
25	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Master's Degree	$113,488	$21,075	87	88.6
26	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL	Master's Degree	$110,979	$18,563	24	88.6
27	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	Master's Degree	$109,628	$20,500	160	88.5
28	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$108,934	$20,500	204	88.5
29	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Master's Degree	$98,020	$16,250	182	88.3
30	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$102,344	$17,750	63	88.2
31	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$97,314	$15,000	154	88.2
32	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Master's Degree	$114,584	—	168	88.1
33	University at Albany Albany, NY	Master's Degree	$110,374	$20,500	87	88
34	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	Master's Degree	$109,883	$20,500	93	88
35	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$99,528	$18,500	162	87.9
36	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY	Master's Degree	$98,554	$16,000	78	87.7
37	Bentley University Waltham, MA	Master's Degree	$115,201	$20,500	37	87.5
38	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	Master's Degree	$99,772	$17,425	64	87.5
39	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Master's Degree	$111,224	$20,500	52	87.5
40	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$101,098	$20,125	353	87
41	Fordham University Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$117,024	$23,000	93	87
42	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Master's Degree	$107,577	$20,732	87	86.9
43	Elon University Elon, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$105,707	$20,000	56	86.9
44	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Master's Degree	$107,090	$20,500	84	86.9
45	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Master's Degree	$118,957	—	51	86.8
46	Baylor University Waco, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$102,011	$20,495	148	86.7
47	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$110,473	$20,500	46	86.6
48	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$125,874	$23,179	58	86.5
49	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$112,202	$20,500	34	86.5
50	Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT	Master's Degree	$92,442	$12,750	320	86.5

🔍 Filter Accounting by state & degree level →

💎

Hidden Gems for Accounting

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Pace University New York, NY Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$115,804	76%	88.7
2	University at Albany Albany, NY Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$110,374	69%	88
3	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$109,816	96%	86.1
4	University of Denver Denver, CO Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$105,291	78%	85.3
5	Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$122,816	75%	85.3
6	St. John's University-New York Queens, NY Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$109,990	83%	85.1
7	Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$92,785	82%	84.9
8	Central Connecticut State University New Britain, CT Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$103,777	73%	84.4
9	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,020	88%	84.1
10	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$103,295	79%	82.6
11	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$111,662	83%	82.3
12	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA Strong Accounting outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$110,498	91%	82.1

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 Accounting field (CIP 52.03) 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 Accounting 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 Accounting program?+

By our outcome score, University of Southern California (California) ranks #1 for Accounting, with median graduate earnings of $121,101.

How are these Accounting 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 Accounting 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

🔍 Accounting 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. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.