Dartmouth comes in at #1 for all schools and the University of California - Berkeley tops the list for public schools when it comes to salary potential. According to the PayScale College Salary Report, Dartmouth graduates (with only a bachelor's degree) have a median mid-career salary of $134,000 while Berkeley graduates earn $112,000.

When it comes to starting salaries, the top engineering schools offer the best short-term return on your education investment. Cal Tech and MIT had the highest median starting salaries at $75,500 and $72,200 respectively.

We've included the top 25 schools from the PayScale Salary Report as well as a list of the top 25 paying degrees.

Top 25 Schools - Median Mid-Career Salary

1. Dartmouth College - $134,000
2. Princeton University - $131,000
3. Stanford University - $129,000
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - $126,000
5. Yale University - $126,000
6. Harvard University - $124,000
7. California Institute of Technology (CIT) - $123,000
8. Harvey Mudd College - $122,000
9. University of Pennsylvania - $120,000
10. University of Notre Dame - $116,000
11. Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn - $114,000
12. Cooper Union - $114,000
13. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - $114,000
14. University of Chicago - $113,000
15. University of California, Berkeley - $112,000
16. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) - $111,000
17. Rice University - $110,000
18. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) - $110,000
19. Cornell University - $110,000
20. Georgetown University - $110,000
21. Bucknell University - $110,000
22. Brown University - $109,000
23. Colgate University - $108,000
24. Columbia University - $107,000
25. Amherst College - $107,000

Top 25 Bachelor Degrees - Median Mid-Career Salary

1. Chemical Engineering - $107,000
2. Computer Engineering - $105,000
3. Electrical Engineering - $103,000
4. Aerospace Engineering - $101,000
5. Economics - $98,600
6. Physics - $97,300
7. Computer Science - $95,500
8. Industrial Engineering - $94,700
9. Mechanical Engineering - $93,600
10. Math - $92,400
11. Physician Assistant - $91,700
12. Civil Engineering - $90,500
13. Construction - $88,900
14. Finance - $88,300
15. Management Information Systems (MIS) - $82,300
16. Philosophy - $81,200
17. International Relations - $80,900
18. Chemistry - $79,900
19. Marketing - $79,600
20. Geology - $79,500
21. Political Science - $78,200
22. Accounting - $77,100
23. Architecture - $76,800
24. Information Technology (IT) - $74,800
25. Business Management - $72,100

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