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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	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 →

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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).

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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.