As the new school year gets well underway, Gen Z is once again facing a daunting question: Is the degree they’re pursuing actually going to be worth it? A new ranking of America’s top 500 colleges is offering a helpful insight: they don’t necessarily need an elite name on their diploma to land a six-figure salary.
The list, compiled by Forbes, is unsurprisingly dominated at the top by Ivy League-level institutions like MIT, Princeton and Harvard, where graduates are expected to earn median salaries of more than $120,000 a decade after receiving their diploma. Graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, ranked No. 5, come out even higher, with median 10-year earnings of $151,328.
But the more surprising finding comes at the other end of the list: Most of the lowest-ranked schools put six-figure salaries well within reach.
Marietta College, a private liberal arts college in rural Ohio ranked No. 500, has median 10-year earnings of $105,837.
In fact, nearly every school on the list has median earnings of over $90,000, meaning the earnings gap between a prestigious college and those lesser-known can be considerably narrower than students might expect.
For comparison, the median annual earnings of full-time workers ages 25 to 34 with only a high school diploma is $41,800, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The two datasets measure different populations and timeframes, but the figures still underscore the earnings premium associated with a college degree—even one from a lower-ranked school.
The college decision is about more than just salary
Post-graduation salaries are just one factor for students to consider when deciding where to go to college. Schools that repeatedly appear at the top of college rankings typically offer advantages that don’t show up in a 10-year salary figure, including expansive alumni networks, access to prominent faculty and research opportunities, and name recognition.
But any benefits come with risks and costs of their own, particularly as colleges across the country grapple with falling enrollment and mounting financial pressures.
Marietta, for example, has faced budget shortfalls that have forced it to eliminate academic programs and lay off faculty in recent years (a school’s financial health was also a factor in the Forbes ranking). In total, some 442 of the nation’s 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges and universities are at risk of closing or having to merge within the next decade, according to a forecast by Huron Consulting Group.
At the same time, schools have faced growing criticism over rising tuition costs and whether degrees are delivering enough of a return on investment. The average cost of college has more than doubled over the last two decades, totaling $39,406 per student per year, including books, supplies, and daily living expenses, according to the Education Data Initiative. This has contributed to the average student now borrowing more than $35,000 to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
And for many graduates, the payoff isn’t immediate. In 2015, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates surpassed that of all workers for the first time, and since then, the gap has worsened. The unemployment rate among recent college rates currently sits at 5.7%, compared with 4.1% for all workers.
Americans’ confidence in the value of a college education has fallen alongside those concerns. In 2010, about 75% of Americans said college was “very important.” A decade and a half later, that figure has fallen to a record low of 35%, according to Gallup.
Having a degree isn’t necessarily an indicator of future success, according to CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Marc Benioff
The growing skepticism around higher education isn’t limited to students and parents. Some of America’s most prominent business leaders have also questioned whether a traditional college degree is still the best path to a successful career.
Mark Zuckerberg, who famously dropped out of Harvard University to launch Facebook (now Meta), has said college remains valuable for building relationships but questioned whether higher education is adequately preparing young people for the modern workforce.
“I’m not sure that college is preparing people for the jobs that they need to have today. I think that there’s a big issue on that, and all the student debt issues are…really big,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with podcaster Theo Von last year.
“There’s going to have to be a reckoning…and people are going to have to figure out whether that makes sense. It’s sort of been this taboo thing to say, ‘Maybe not everyone needs to go to college,’ and because there’s a lot of jobs that don’t require that…people are probably coming around to that opinion a little more now than maybe like 10 years ago,” Zuckerberg added.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who graduated from Tufts University and Harvard Business School, has similarly argued that elite education isn’t necessarily a predictor of success on the job.
“I don’t think necessarily because you go to an Ivy League school or have great grades it means you’re going to be a great worker or great person,” Dimon said in 2024.
Skills, he added, are “far more important” than having a college degree for many jobs: “If you look at skills of people, it is amazing how skilled people are in something, but it didn’t show up in their resume.”
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a University of Southern California alumnus, has gone even further, arguing that a college degree isn’t a prerequisite for creating value.
“Everybody thinks that if you don’t have a college degree, you can’t be successful in the United States, and it’s not true,” he told NBC in 2021. “You can create incredible value for the world without a college degree.”
As the school year progresses, many Gen Z students are contemplating the value of their college degrees. A new ranking of the top 500 colleges in the U.S. by Forbes suggests that students may not need to attend elite institutions to secure lucrative job offers. The ranking highlights that while Ivy League schools like MIT, Princeton, and Harvard lead the list with median earnings exceeding $120,000 a decade post-graduation, many lower-ranked colleges also enable graduates to earn six-figure salaries. For instance, Marietta College, ranked 500th, boasts median 10-year earnings of $105,837, indicating that earnings can be considerably high even from lesser-known schools.
The data shows that nearly all colleges in the ranking have median earnings over $90,000, demonstrating a smaller disparity in potential earnings between prestigious and less prestigious institutions than students might initially think. In contrast, full-time workers aged 25 to 34 with only a high school diploma earn a median of $41,800, emphasizing the financial benefits of obtaining a college degree, regardless of the institution’s rank.
However, choosing a college involves more than just potential salary. Higher-ranked schools often provide advantages such as robust alumni networks, prominent faculty, and research opportunities, which could contribute to long-term career success. Yet, these benefits come with challenges, particularly as many colleges face financial difficulties that threaten their operations. Marietta College has experienced budget shortfalls, prompting cuts to academic programs and faculty layoffs, and forecasts indicate that nearly a quarter of private nonprofit colleges could face closure or mergers in the coming years.
Rising tuition costs exacerbate the situation, with average college expenses more than doubling over the last two decades to approximately $39,406 annually. Students are now borrowing over $35,000 on average to finance their bachelor’s degrees, and many graduates struggle to find immediate employment. In fact, the unemployment rate among recent college graduates has surpassed that of the overall workforce, currently sitting at 5.7%.
Public confidence in the value of a college education has significantly declined. In 2010, approximately 75% of Americans viewed college as « very important, » but this number has plummeted to a mere 35% today, according to Gallup.
Prominent business leaders are also questioning the traditional path of obtaining a college degree. Mark Zuckerberg, who dropped out of Harvard to create Facebook, believes that while college helps build relationships, it may not adequately prepare students for today’s job market. He suggests that there should be a reevaluation of whether college is necessary for everyone, especially given the existence of jobs that do not require a degree.
Similarly, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has stated that attending an Ivy League school or achieving high grades does not guarantee success in the workplace. He emphasizes the importance of skills over degrees, noting that many capable individuals possess skills that may not be highlighted on their resumes.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has taken this further by asserting that success does not solely depend on having a college degree, arguing that individuals can create significant value without formal higher education.
In summary, as Gen Z navigates their college choices, the Forbes ranking provides a nuanced perspective on the relationship between college prestige and potential earnings. While elite degrees can lead to high salaries, many lesser-known colleges also offer substantial financial opportunities. However, the decision to pursue a degree should consider various factors beyond salary, including the financial health of the institution, rising education costs, and shifting societal views on the necessity of a college education. The insights from business leaders further challenge the notion that a traditional college degree is the only pathway to success, suggesting alternative routes may be equally valid in today’s rapidly changing job market.
