Harvey Mudd College Ranks Second in Nation for Graduates’ Earning Potential

Harvey Mudd College alumni earn the second highest mid-career salaries of all U.S. college and university graduates, according to PayScale’s 2012-2013 College Salary Report.  Moving up from last year’s No. 3 spot, HMC ranked No. 2 with a median mid-career salary of $135,000.

Princeton University held the No. 1 spot for the second year in row, with a median mid-career salary of $137,000. California Institute of Technology slipped from second to third position at $127,000. Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked No. 6, and Stanford ranked No. 10.

HMC rose to No. 1 in the category “Best Engineering Colleges by Salary Potential,” up from last year’s No. 2 spot. Caltech moved to No. 2, and MIT remained at No. 3.

HMC also ranked first in the category “Best Liberal Arts Colleges by Salary Potential,” followed by the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Williams College, respectively.

PayScale’s 2012-13 College Salary Report reviews 1,058 schools by graduates’ starting and mid-career salaries. Starting salary data for 2012-13 put HMC at No. 5 with a median starting salary of $66,800. Graduates from West Point earn the highest starting salaries with a median of $76,000, followed by the U.S. Naval Academy at No. 2 with $72,200 and MIT at No. 3 with $68,400.

PayScale issues a separate report annually for college return on investment. The 2012 College ROI Report, published in April 2012, ranked HMC at No. 1 for investment value, followed by CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Princeton and Harvard.

According to PayScale, all data used for the 2012-13 report were collected from employees who completed their employee survey. PayScale only includes data from graduates who possess a bachelor’s degree; they do not include graduates who go on to earn a master’s degree, MBA, M.D., J.D., PhD, or other advanced degree.  Starting salaries are defined as five years of experience or less; mid-career salaries are defined as 10 or more years of experience in a field.