Federal data
Highest earning master's business administration programs in the United States
U.S. business administration programs, ranked by median earnings one year after completion, from the College Scorecard field-of-study file (September 18, 2026). Only programs with at least 30 counted graduates in the earnings sample are shown, and at least 5 programs must qualify for this list to exist.
| Rank | School | City | Sector | Median earnings, 1 year after | Graduates counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern University | Evanston | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $224,402 | 177 |
| 2 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $210,400 | 381 |
| 3 | University of Chicago | Chicago | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $194,606 | 504 |
| 4 | Stanford University | Stanford | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $193,776 | 105 |
| 5 | Yale University | New Haven | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $192,686 | 300 |
| 6 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | Charlottesville | Public, 4-year | $189,494 | 321 |
| 7 | Dartmouth College | Hanover | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $188,502 | 179 |
| 8 | New York University | New York | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $184,729 | 531 |
| 9 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $182,930 | 449 |
| 10 | Cornell University | Ithaca | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $179,274 | 496 |
| 11 | University of California-Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public, 4-year | $172,128 | 324 |
| 12 | Duke University | Durham | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $171,948 | 565 |
| 13 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $165,798 | 122 |
| 14 | University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | Public, 4-year | $164,382 | 68 |
| 15 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor | Public, 4-year | $160,286 | 749 |
| 16 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin | Public, 4-year | $159,326 | 532 |
| 17 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | Public, 4-year | $156,818 | 789 |
| 18 | Rice University | Houston | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $150,476 | 280 |
| 19 | University of Washington | Seattle | Public, 4-year | $149,800 | 434 |
| 20 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $149,786 | 154 |
| 21 | Georgetown University | Washington | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $147,613 | 476 |
| 22 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $147,168 | 41 |
| 23 | Babson College | Wellesley | Private nonprofit, 4-year | $145,036 | 290 |
Earnings cover federally aided graduates only, as published by College Scorecard.
How to read this. A smaller program can show a high or low figure from just a few graduates, and this earnings figure only ever covers students who received federal aid, so it does not describe every graduate.