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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 →

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