Majors

Best Colleges for Philosophy, by Earnings

671 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, about 7,346 degrees a year. Across the 83 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $56,812 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$107,454	180	5.4%
2	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$98,592	28	31.3%
3	Boston College	MA	$97,519	77	16.4%
4	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	NY	$78,041	12	57.1%
5	College of William & Mary	VA	$75,423	25	34.1%
6	Fordham University	NY	$74,507	37	59.3%
7	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$71,796	108	33%
8	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$71,790	47	26.6%
9	University of Chicago	IL	$71,709	61	4.5%
10	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$70,709	45	15.3%
11	Seton Hall University	NJ	$70,628	27	73.3%
12	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	$68,629	6	83%
13	Boston University	MA	$68,026	62	11.1%
14	CUNY Brooklyn College	NY	$67,948	17	58.4%
15	University of Michigan	MI	$67,293	33	15.6%
16	Pennsylvania State University	PA	$65,675	33	60.6%
17	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus	PA	$65,675	1	91.2%
18	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$65,115	21	94%
19	George Washington University	DC	$64,898	25	47.1%
20	University of Maryland	MD	$64,846	51	44.8%
21	Virginia Commonwealth University	VA	$64,402	16	92.6%
22	University of Scranton	PA	$63,410	35	81.2%
23	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$63,326	98	11%
24	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$61,754	116	9%
25	University of Washington	WA	$61,595	81	39.1%
26	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	$61,595	43	90.6%
27	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$61,186	81	45.2%
28	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$60,571	29	81.6%
29	Georgia State University	GA	$60,009	31	55.4%
30	Arizona State University	AZ	$59,935	41	89.9%
31	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$59,640	11	75%
32	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	WI	$59,370	13	90.7%
33	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$59,329	13	41.6%
34	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$58,891	39	58.1%
35	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$58,891	2	71.4%
36	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	$58,891	1	66.3%
37	University of Oregon	OR	$58,635	22	88.3%
38	University of California-Davis	CA	$58,633	69	41.8%
39	North Carolina State University	NC	$58,285	17	41.7%
40	West Virginia University	WV	$57,041	11	89%
41	Columbia University	NY	$56,885	75	4%
42	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	$56,812	4	88.8%
43	University of Iowa	IA	$56,786	22	83.6%
44	University of Houston	TX	$55,875	16	73.9%
45	Ohio State University	OH	$55,823	34	60.6%
46	University of Arizona	AZ	$55,804	31	86.1%
47	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	$54,868	12	83.8%
48	Texas A&M University	TX	$54,822	25	57.4%
49	San Diego State University	CA	$53,390	32	36.2%
50	University of Minnesota	MN	$53,189	26	79.8%
51	California State University-Los Angeles	CA	$53,127	15	91.3%
52	University of Florida	FL	$52,656	41	24.2%
53	New York University	NY	$52,633	75	7.7%
54	University of Pittsburgh	PA	$52,436	35	58.1%
55	St. John's University-New York	NY	$52,006	15	83.4%
56	University of Southern California	CA	$51,831	77	9.8%
57	University of California-Riverside	CA	$51,402	44	76.4%
58	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$51,398	51	65.8%
59	Texas State University	TX	$50,768	16	89.3%
60	Portland State University	OR	$50,191	17	90.9%
61	Louisiana State University	LA	$50,016	13	73.3%
62	University of Colorado Colorado Springs	CO	$49,909	24	97.4%
63	CUNY Hunter College	NY	$49,583	18	53.8%
64	University of South Florida	FL	$49,561	21	43.2%
65	The Catholic University of America	DC	$49,378	30	82.8%
66	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$49,062	29	46.3%
67	California State University-Northridge	CA	$48,566	22	93.5%
68	Temple University	PA	$47,414	13	80.4%
69	Florida State University	FL	$47,153	34	24.2%
70	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	NC	$46,067	17	79.6%
71	California State University-Fullerton	CA	$44,533	20	90.5%
72	University of Louisville	KY	$44,329	16	79.4%
73	CUNY Lehman College	NY	$43,165	14	56.6%
74	Florida International University	FL	$43,085	32	54.7%
75	San Francisco State University	CA	$42,993	34	96.4%
76	California State University-Fresno	CA	$42,337	24	95.3%
77	University of St Thomas	MN	$41,209	23	85.4%
78	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$40,284	13	64%
79	Wheaton College	IL	$40,076	15	87.4%
80	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point	WI	$39,532	7	91.8%
81	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$34,482	20	42.4%
82	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	TX	$33,457	17	94.2%
83	Franciscan University of Steubenville	OH	$31,906	41	58.4%

588 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 Philosophy graduates?

University of Pennsylvania ($107,454), California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo ($98,592), Boston College ($97,519), CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice ($78,041), College of William & Mary ($75,423) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Philosophy majors make?

The median across 83 colleges is $56,812 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $31,906 to $107,454.

Which colleges have the biggest Philosophy programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: University of Pennsylvania (180), University of California-Los Angeles (116), University of California-Santa Barbara (108), University of California-Berkeley (98), University of Washington (81).

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