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Best Colleges for Economics

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

⚡Quick answer

For Economics, Harvard University (Massachusetts) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $155,592. 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	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$155,592	$6,617	186	98.1
2	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$159,578	$13,395	634	97.8
3	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$161,149	$13,187	209	97.3
4	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$160,763	$11,250	122	97.1
5	Yale University New Haven, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$142,936	$12,562	204	96.6
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$140,337	$12,000	251	96.6
7	Williams College Williamstown, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$166,678	$12,925	107	96.5
8	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$135,050	$12,650	799	96.4
9	Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$146,524	$12,000	129	96.4
10	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$137,935	$15,000	182	94.4
11	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$129,985	$14,621	234	94.4
12	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$128,882	$12,250	132	94.3
13	Brown University Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$124,508	$13,000	215	93.7
14	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$129,575	$11,644	75	93.5
15	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$126,006	$15,250	335	93.1
16	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$152,929	$18,132	170	93.1
17	Amherst College Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$141,730	$16,662	91	92.5
18	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,787	$11,190	92	91.8
19	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$128,887	$17,500	143	91.2
20	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$130,633	$17,500	88	90.6
21	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$123,809	$17,850	198	90.3
22	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$118,999	$15,500	181	90.1
23	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,337	$18,000	354	89.4
24	Stanford University Stanford, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$112,700	$12,500	108	89.4
25	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$122,637	$19,000	245	88.1
26	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$103,846	$14,135	449	87.6
27	Bates College Lewiston, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$110,880	$13,000	68	86.9
28	Barnard College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$111,909	$16,250	92	86.5
29	Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$122,998	$18,628	60	86.4
30	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,773	$18,423	465	86.2
31	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$128,051	$19,500	80	86.1
32	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$123,477	$19,500	111	85.8
33	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$110,552	$18,750	618	85.3
34	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$116,510	$19,767	541	85
35	Duke University Durham, NC	Master's Degree	$140,750	—	64	85
36	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$98,178	$13,440	656	84.6
37	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,307	$19,500	108	84.4
38	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$121,983	$19,500	78	84.3
39	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$102,439	$14,805	105	84.2
40	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$144,886	$22,020	55	83.7
41	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,724	$16,500	46	83.6
42	Lafayette College Easton, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$112,864	$19,500	140	83.4
43	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$121,910	—	95	82.4
44	Trinity College Hartford, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$122,068	$21,500	119	82.3
45	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$162,229	—	15	82.2
46	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$95,227	$11,000	145	82.1
47	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,440	$15,000	861	81.9
48	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	Master's Degree	$128,586	—	29	81.2
49	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$137,710	$25,000	327	81.2
50	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$94,435	$13,850	210	81

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Hidden Gems for Economics

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$121,307	48%	84.4
2	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$128,586	61%	81.2
3	Elon University Elon, NC Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$112,303	66%	80.3
4	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$115,251	62%	78.4
5	George Washington University Washington, DC Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,406	47%	75.7
6	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$91,701	63%	75
7	Occidental College Los Angeles, CA Strong Economics outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$103,164	44%	73.8
8	Fordham University Bronx, NY Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$105,001	59%	72.2
9	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$104,943	63%	71.4
10	Hobart William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$111,833	64%	71.1
11	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI Strong Economics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$106,753	81%	71.1
12	Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY Strong Economics outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$118,557	57%	70.4

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 Economics field (CIP 45.06) 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 Economics 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 Economics program?+

By our outcome score, Harvard University (Massachusetts) ranks #1 for Economics, with median graduate earnings of $155,592.

How are these Economics 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 Economics 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.