Majors

Best Colleges for Business Administration, by Earnings

1,154 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, about 131,144 degrees a year. Across the 998 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $65,025 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	$160,783	151	11.7%
2	University of Michigan	MI	$144,654	613	15.6%
3	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$144,599	428	11%
4	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$136,806	93	5.4%
5	Emory University	GA	$136,731	422	10.7%
6	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$135,874	401	15.3%
7	Boston College	MA	$123,144	120	16.4%
8	Washington and Lee University	VA	$121,699	96	14%
9	Georgetown University	DC	$117,733	49	12.9%
10	Villanova University	PA	$114,211	34	27%
11	College of William & Mary	VA	$111,366	200	34.1%
12	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$110,902	689	31.3%
13	University of Southern California	CA	$109,128	832	9.8%
14	Boston University	MA	$108,412	672	11.1%
15	Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ	$108,400	91	47.6%
16	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$107,904	134	42.4%
17	Babson College	MA	$107,520	702	17.1%
18	Southern Methodist University	TX	$106,799	71	63.3%
19	Texas Christian University	TX	$106,765	122	44.5%
20	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	$106,155	351	14.1%
21	Brigham Young University	UT	$105,544	119	67.8%
22	University of San Francisco	CA	$104,390	75	61.7%
23	University of Richmond	VA	$103,856	253	22.2%
24	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	$101,895	62	28.2%
25	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$100,005	231	45.2%
26	City University of Seattle	WA	$99,735	109
27	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	$99,713	58	63.5%
28	Bentley University	MA	$99,514	108	45.1%
29	Lehigh University	PA	$98,481	17	25.9%
30	Yeshiva University	NY	$97,914	41	55.6%
31	Wentworth Institute of Technology	MA	$97,183	1	91.2%
32	Edgewood University	WI	$96,101	1	75.7%
33	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	$95,966	203	14%
34	University of Pittsburgh	PA	$95,917	25	58.1%
35	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$95,796	126	75.4%
36	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$94,458	250	26.6%
37	University of Minnesota-Crookston	MN	$93,969	72	87.9%
38	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$93,753	232	75.5%
39	Clarkson University	NY	$93,152	28	77.4%
40	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$92,623	317	59.7%
41	Westminster University	UT	$92,548	16	66.6%
42	University of Dayton	OH	$92,317	24	65.5%
43	Saint Louis University	MO	$91,483	19	75%
44	Syracuse University	NY	$91,472	111	45.9%
45	Pepperdine University	CA	$91,227	186	62.9%
46	Michigan State University	MI	$91,187	448	84.8%
47	Marist University	NY	$90,855	291	56.5%
48	University of Minnesota	MN	$90,284	113	79.8%
49	Fordham University	NY	$90,192	177	59.3%
50	Thomas Edison State University	NJ	$89,947	140
51	Bryant University	RI	$89,929	109	65.5%
52	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$89,745	118	81.6%
53	University of Detroit Mercy	MI	$89,540	48	75.4%
54	University of Delaware	DE	$89,105	154	70.6%
55	University of Oklahoma	OK	$88,953	25	76.6%
56	Dominican University of California	CA	$88,913	53	83.5%
57	Howard University	DC	$88,875	27	41.3%
58	American University	DC	$88,359	264	62%
59	The Catholic University of America	DC	$87,907	164	82.8%
60	University of Maryland	MD	$86,590	276	44.8%
61	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	$86,550	22	58.9%
62	University of New Hampshire	NH	$86,535	618	88.2%
63	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$86,441	1,201	78.1%
64	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$85,978	276	62.3%
65	Baylor University	TX	$85,961	223	51.3%
66	Ohio State University	OH	$85,586	236	60.6%
67	University of Redlands	CA	$85,278	118	82.7%
68	George Mason University	VA	$85,224	103	87.5%
69	James Madison University	VA	$85,137	130	71.5%
70	Providence College	RI	$85,119	115	50.9%
71	Gettysburg College	PA	$84,973	86	38.9%
72	Fairfield University	CT	$84,962	59	33.3%
73	Chapman University	CA	$84,378	444	65.4%
74	North Carolina State University	NC	$84,349	918	41.7%
75	Clark University	MA	$84,234	50	39.5%
76	Oakland University	MI	$84,052	45	87.8%
77	Drexel University	PA	$84,040	109	79.4%
78	Bellevue University	NE	$84,019	478
79	University of Massachusetts Global	CA	$83,778	340
80	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide	FL	$83,749	401	57.9%
81	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach	FL	$83,749	74	64.8%
82	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott	AZ	$83,749	19	76.6%
83	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$83,606	351	58.1%
84	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$83,606	234	66.3%
85	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$83,606	189	71.4%
86	Thomas More University	KY	$82,906	67	90.4%
87	University of Florida	FL	$82,615	556	24.2%
88	Queens University of Charlotte	NC	$82,572	48	62.1%
89	Temple University	PA	$82,570	161	80.4%
90	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$82,543	55	45.1%
91	Arizona State University	AZ	$82,535	673	89.9%
92	University of St Thomas	MN	$82,396	156	85.4%
93	Quinnipiac University	CT	$82,357	92	72.2%
94	University of Vermont	VT	$82,284	195	65.3%
95	Hampton University	VA	$82,252	57	62.3%
96	Texas A&M University	TX	$82,213	472	57.4%
97	George Fox University	OR	$82,212	64	93.5%
98	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$82,074	595	41.6%
99	Menlo College	CA	$81,996	25	68.5%
100	University of Idaho	ID	$81,967	40	75.5%

Showing the top 100 of 998 colleges that report earnings. 156 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Business Administration graduates?

Carnegie Mellon University ($160,783), University of Michigan ($144,654), University of California-Berkeley ($144,599), University of Pennsylvania ($136,806), Emory University ($136,731) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Business Administration majors make?

The median across 998 colleges is $65,025 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $21,492 to $160,783.

Which colleges have the biggest Business Administration programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Southern New Hampshire University (5,571), California State University-Fullerton (2,134), San Diego State University (2,008), The University of Arizona Global Campus (1,783), San Jose State University (1,657).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Business Administration, Management and Operations". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.