This past May, millions of college graduates throughout the United States hit the professional workforce–or at least attempted to. According to USA Today, “the nation’s job market continues to force college graduates to take jobs they’re overqualified for, jobs outside their major, and generally delay their career to the detriment of at least a decade’s worth of unearned wages.” Even though unemployment had dropped this summer to the lowest it has been since 2008 and employers added the most jobs in more than two years, the portion of Americans ages 25 to 34 who were working in April fell to a five-month low. Seeing as the class of 2014 has entered an extremely weak and struggling job market, well-paying jobs are hard to find nowadays. Luckily, the following five colleges and universities can claim that their graduates are among some of the highest paid in the United States. Read on and the discover which college resulted in the highest paid graduates, in order of average annual salary.
5. Colgate University – $54,000/year
Established in 1819, Colgate University is a private liberal arts college located in the rural Central New York town of Hamilton. The university has 54 undergraduate concentrations that culminate in a Bachelor of Arts degree, and in 2013, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Colgate University as the 18th best liberal arts college in the country. Colgate alumni include Andy Rooney, Bob Woodruff, all five members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, and the creators of Trivial Pursuit.
4. Stanford University – $62,900/year
Stanford University, founded in 1885, is a private research university located in Stanford, California. With the highest undergraduate selectivity and fundraising performance in the United States, Stanford University is one of the world’s most prestigious institutions. Alumni include the founders of Hewlett-Packard, Google, Yahoo!, and Nike, NFL legend John Elway, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, nine Nobel Prize recipients, 18 astronauts, and 112 Rhodes Scholars.
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – $70,300/year
Founded in 1861, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT currently focuses heavily on scientific, engineering, and technological education and research and is one of the most selective higher learning institutions in the country. Alumni include the founders of Intel, Bose, and Campbell Soup, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 27 Nobel Prize recipients, 47 Rhodes Scholars, and 61 Marshall Scholars.
2. Harvey Mudd College – $75,600/year
The smallest college on this list, Harvey Mudd College is a private residential liberal arts college of science, engineering, and mathematics founded in 1955 and located in Claremont, California. One of the institutions of the contiguous Claremont Colleges, Harvey Mudd College tied for 15th on the U.S. News & World Report‘s list of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Notable alumni include astronauts George “Pinky” Nelson and Stan Love, Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Scott Stokdyk, and Audacity creator Dominic Mazzoni.
1. United States Naval Academy – $80,700/year
Founded in 1845, the United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland. The second-oldest of the five United States service academies, the USNA is the college that can claim the top spot on the list of highest paid graduates. Students are officers-in-training and are commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps upon graduation. Alumni include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, more than 50 astronauts, two Nobel Prize recipients, 24 Marshall Scholars, 46 Rhodes Scholars, and 73 Medal of Honor recipients.
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