Majors

Best Colleges for Liberal Arts, by Earnings

776 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts, about 34,590 degrees a year. Across the 401 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $51,897 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	$147,998	11	4.5%
2	Yale University	CT	$113,788	27	3.9%
3	Georgetown University	DC	$112,722	24	12.9%
4	Bentley University	MA	$105,183	2	45.1%
5	Columbia University	NY	$99,679	6	4%
6	University of Chicago	IL	$96,510	10	4.5%
7	Northwestern University	IL	$93,180	4	7.7%
8	Champlain College	VT	$91,533	14	82.9%
9	Emory University	GA	$90,025	7	10.7%
10	DePaul University	IL	$86,444	119	75.9%
11	Drexel University	PA	$84,166	52	79.4%
12	University of Hartford	CT	$80,775	19	95.8%
13	Life University	GA	$78,151	32	93%
14	University of Mount Union	OH	$76,675	10	78.2%
15	Union College	NY	$75,345	42	43.9%
16	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$74,122	29	66.3%
17	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$73,242	90	59.7%
18	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$73,089	294	26.6%
19	William Jewell College	MO	$72,507	9	38.4%
20	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$72,422	26	15.3%
21	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia	PA	$72,048	10	88.8%
22	Wesleyan University	CT	$71,932	10	16.5%
23	University of North Dakota	ND	$71,538	105	76.9%
24	Molloy University	NY	$71,097	24	81.7%
25	Xavier University	OH	$69,546	54	86.4%
26	Saint Mary's College of California	CA	$68,501	47	86.5%
27	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	$68,471	10	47.5%
28	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$68,171	116	31.3%
29	Sacred Heart University	CT	$68,092	16	65.4%
30	University of Michigan	MI	$67,859	52	15.6%
31	Seton Hall University	NJ	$67,522	123	73.3%
32	Montana State University Billings	MT	$67,304	39
33	Ave Maria University	FL	$67,139	4	41.4%
34	Southern New Hampshire University	NH	$66,656	1,312	99.5%
35	New York University	NY	$66,502	538	7.7%
36	Wayne State University	MI	$66,426	14	81.2%
37	Empire State University	NY	$66,111	12
38	Dominican University of California	CA	$65,780	4	83.5%
39	Pace University	NY	$65,637	15	75.9%
40	North Carolina State University	NC	$65,594	25	41.7%
41	University of Oklahoma	OK	$65,474	203	76.6%
42	University of Missouri	MO	$65,029	121	78.5%
43	St. Francis College	NY	$64,725	26
44	University of Indianapolis	IN	$64,325	19	66.5%
45	Seattle University	WA	$64,098	27	76.9%
46	Thomas Edison State University	NJ	$64,011	352
47	Rochester Institute of Technology	NY	$63,845	109	66.9%
48	Buena Vista University	IA	$63,832	1	77.6%
49	Oakland University	MI	$63,534	122	87.8%
50	The New School	NY	$62,976	71	63.5%
51	Quincy University	IL	$62,841	2	50.9%
52	Trinity Washington University	DC	$62,755	6	99.5%
53	University of California-Riverside	CA	$62,211	80	76.4%
54	California State University-Dominguez Hills	CA	$62,164	161	93.3%
55	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$62,148	12	45.1%
56	Providence College	RI	$62,111	9	50.9%
57	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	$62,027	22	11.7%
58	CUNY Medgar Evers College	NY	$61,987	14	86.1%
59	Westmont College	CA	$61,939	11	77.1%
60	Vassar College	NY	$61,359	2	18.6%
61	University of St Thomas	TX	$61,219	29	89.9%
62	University of Iowa	IA	$61,200	191	83.6%
63	George Mason University	VA	$61,100	292	87.5%
64	California Lutheran University	CA	$60,806	24	75.7%
65	Aurora University	IL	$60,775	23	80.9%
66	Eastern Oregon University	OR	$60,706	5	98.3%
67	Valparaiso University	IN	$60,612	1	89.4%
68	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus	NJ	$60,525	191	90.7%
69	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus	NJ	$60,525	12	95.2%
70	Coppin State University	MD	$60,410	32	45.8%
71	University of Notre Dame	IN	$60,369	35	11.3%
72	Metropolitan State University	MN	$60,352	4	98.7%
73	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	$60,241	28	85.7%
74	Belmont Abbey College	NC	$60,199	30	74.7%
75	University of Connecticut	CT	$60,092	143	52.4%
76	South Dakota State University	SD	$60,081	33	98.3%
77	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$60,019	300	46.3%
78	California State University-Los Angeles	CA	$59,904	139	91.3%
79	University of South Florida	FL	$59,587	219	43.2%
80	Sonoma State University	CA	$59,444	115	93.4%
81	Drew University	NJ	$59,399	1	67.8%
82	California State University-Stanislaus	CA	$59,251	236	98.1%
83	University of Redlands	CA	$59,234	12	82.7%
84	Saint Leo University	FL	$59,222	14	78.4%
85	Arizona State University	AZ	$59,104	73	89.9%
86	California State University-Monterey Bay	CA	$59,017	250	97.4%
87	University of La Verne	CA	$58,953	4	71.2%
88	Baker College	MI	$58,921	32	81.9%
89	Thomas More University	KY	$58,853	27	90.4%
90	Morgan State University	MD	$58,788	98	82.2%
91	University of Kansas	KS	$58,777	83	93.5%
92	University of Massachusetts Global	CA	$58,739	76
93	San Francisco State University	CA	$58,617	51	96.4%
94	University of Houston	TX	$58,450	42	73.9%
95	California State University-Fresno	CA	$58,436	529	95.3%
96	San Diego State University	CA	$58,419	227	36.2%
97	Texas Tech University	TX	$58,375	239	72.7%
98	Lewis-Clark State College	ID	$58,327	23	87.7%
99	California State University-San Marcos	CA	$58,289	155	95.1%
100	Pennsylvania State University	PA	$58,195	11	60.6%

Showing the top 100 of 401 colleges that report earnings. 375 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 Liberal Arts graduates?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($147,998), Yale University ($113,788), Georgetown University ($112,722), Bentley University ($105,183), Columbia University ($99,679) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Liberal Arts majors make?

The median across 401 colleges is $51,897 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $28,523 to $147,998.

Which colleges have the biggest Liberal Arts programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Southern New Hampshire University (1,312), University of Virginia (1,098), New York University (538), California State University-Fresno (529), University of North Texas (405).

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 "Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.