Majors

Best Colleges for Chemistry, by Earnings

1,023 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Chemistry, about 13,150 degrees a year. Across the 199 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $65,983 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$93,122	26	17.6%
2	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$90,396	35	62.3%
3	Northeastern University	MA	$88,364	27	5.2%
4	New York University	NY	$86,197	30	7.7%
5	University of Connecticut	CT	$84,609	40	52.4%
6	University of Delaware	DE	$84,428	19	70.6%
7	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$82,386	129	11%
8	Drexel University	PA	$82,185	28	79.4%
9	University of New Hampshire	NH	$82,185	8	88.2%
10	University of Oregon	OR	$81,984	23	88.3%
11	Salem State University	MA	$81,266	6	95.9%
12	Bridgewater State University	MA	$80,287	14	87.8%
13	California State University-Northridge	CA	$79,878	23	93.5%
14	University of Maryland	MD	$79,869	28	44.8%
15	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$79,736	32	41.6%
16	Rowan University	NJ	$79,695	24	77.7%
17	Willamette University	OR	$79,592	13	77.1%
18	Cornell University	NY	$79,311	45	8.8%
19	University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth	MA	$79,043	5	90.6%
20	Emory University	GA	$79,034	95	10.7%
21	Boise State University	ID	$78,901	35	87.2%
22	Oregon State University	OR	$78,417	26	77.3%
23	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$78,373	37	59.7%
24	College of William & Mary	VA	$78,270	41	34.1%
25	Temple University	PA	$78,052	22	80.4%
26	George Mason University	VA	$77,681	26	87.5%
27	Le Moyne College	NY	$77,564	9	83%
28	University of California-San Diego	CA	$77,249	227	26.7%
29	North Carolina State University	NC	$76,978	41	41.7%
30	Metropolitan State University of Denver	CO	$76,759	15	98.8%
31	Towson University	MD	$76,296	39	82%
32	Central Washington University	WA	$75,905	14	90.6%
33	SUNY College at Geneseo	NY	$75,893	6	66.5%
34	University of California-Irvine	CA	$74,810	117	28.6%
35	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$74,713	114	33%
36	San Diego State University	CA	$74,676	95	36.2%
37	James Madison University	VA	$74,631	28	71.5%
38	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	$74,568	26	83%
39	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$74,430	18	94%
40	Montclair State University	NJ	$74,401	14	87.9%
41	Bloomfield College of Montclair State University	NJ	$74,401	6	69.7%
42	Indiana State University	IN	$73,623	12	80.8%
43	University of Kentucky	KY	$73,549	46	92.9%
44	Virginia Tech	VA	$73,395	53	54.8%
45	California State University-Stanislaus	CA	$73,392	13	98.1%
46	University of California-Davis	CA	$73,365	91	41.8%
47	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$73,245	30	58.1%
48	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$73,245	5	66.3%
49	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$73,245	4	71.4%
50	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania	PA	$73,146	6	92.1%
51	University of North Alabama	AL	$72,885	2	87.3%
52	Southern Connecticut State University	CT	$72,838	9	91.5%
53	University of Cincinnati	OH	$72,302	49	85.3%
54	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$72,220	64	9%
55	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$72,025	90	26.6%
56	University of New Haven	CT	$72,013	4	60.4%
57	Stony Brook University	NY	$71,783	65	49%
58	The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga	TN	$71,634	20	81.1%
59	University of Minnesota	MN	$71,620	69	79.8%
60	Colorado State University	CO	$71,615	25	88.5%
61	Ohio State University	OH	$71,559	69	60.6%
62	East Carolina University	NC	$71,445	52	89.2%
63	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$71,348	54	65.8%
64	University of Utah	UT	$71,276	48	86%
65	Baldwin Wallace University	OH	$71,252	9	75.7%
66	Portland State University	OR	$70,948	19	90.9%
67	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	$70,741	97	75.2%
68	Texas Tech University	TX	$70,673	26	72.7%
69	Grand Valley State University	MI	$70,611	11	83%
70	Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	IL	$70,541	22	97.5%
71	University of Pittsburgh	PA	$70,206	57	58.1%
72	University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg	PA	$70,206	6	95.2%
73	University of Pittsburgh-Bradford	PA	$70,206	4	88.5%
74	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$70,197	121	42.4%
75	University at Albany	NY	$70,124	25	69.1%
76	Millersville University of Pennsylvania	PA	$69,998	20	86.2%
77	University of Wyoming	WY	$69,992	17	96.9%
78	Texas A&M University	TX	$69,662	57	57.4%
79	Rochester Institute of Technology	NY	$68,926	20	66.9%
80	University of Houston	TX	$68,504	30	73.9%
81	University at Buffalo	NY	$68,413	42	74.2%
82	Western Illinois University	IL	$68,249	12	71.2%
83	University of Virginia	VA	$68,174	98	16.8%
84	Syracuse University	NY	$68,017	16	45.9%
85	Clemson University	SC	$67,996	24	38.3%
86	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$67,818	52	46.3%
87	Eastern Michigan University	MI	$67,767	11	79.6%
88	Purdue University	IN	$67,680	65	49.9%
89	Wichita State University	KS	$67,475	16	94%
90	Virginia Commonwealth University	VA	$67,439	95	92.6%
91	Lewis University	IL	$67,006	8	71.3%
92	Rhode Island College	RI	$66,959	4	91.8%
93	Monmouth University	NJ	$66,895	10	89%
94	Florida State University	FL	$66,724	15	24.2%
95	University of Arizona	AZ	$66,532	24	86.1%
96	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	$66,529	35	88.8%
97	Iowa State University	IA	$66,486	27	88.7%
98	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire	WI	$66,246	27	82.3%
99	Christopher Newport University	VA	$66,171	27	86%
100	Michigan State University	MI	$65,983	62	84.8%

Showing the top 100 of 199 colleges that report earnings. 824 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 Chemistry graduates?

College of the Holy Cross ($93,122), The College of New Jersey ($90,396), Northeastern University ($88,364), New York University ($86,197), University of Connecticut ($84,609) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Chemistry majors make?

The median across 199 colleges is $65,983 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $43,731 to $93,122.

Which colleges have the biggest Chemistry programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: University of California-San Diego (227), University of Florida (163), University of California-Berkeley (129), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (121), CUNY Hunter College (118).

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 "Chemistry". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.