Where you go to college can have a huge effect on how much you make over your career, even more than your major. The differences get magnified later in life.
A yearlong study conducted by the compensation company PayScale Inc. found that – surprise, surprise – Ivy League grads make more than non-Ivy League grads, even within the same major.
Six Virginia schools took part in the study. Washington and Lee University had the highest starting salary at $53,600 and the highest midcareer salary, $104,000. UVA was a close second at $103,000 at mid-career. At the bottom was Virginia Commonwealth University, with the lowest starting salary of $42,000 and the lowest midcareer salary, $68,400.
The study was based on a survey of 1.2 million bachelor’s degree graduates with a minimum of 10 years of work experience. Subjects came from over 300 different schools ranging from state institutions to the Ivy League.
The median starting salary for Ivy League graduates is 32% higher than that of non-Ivy League grads. At the midcareer point, the number rises slightly to 34%. This means that incomes tend to grow at similar rates, despite variances in starting salary.
The study found that graduates of Dartmouth had the highest median salary at $134,000. The highest-paid non-Ivy League graduates, from Bucknell University, had a median salary of $110,000. This is slightly higher than the lowest median salary for an Ivy Leaguer, which went to Columbia at $107,000.
School Name - School Type - Starting Median Salary - Midcareer Median Salary
George Mason University - State - $47,800 - $86,000 Randolph-Macon College - Party - $42,600 - $83,600 University of Richmond - Liberal Arts - $48,600 - $94,600 University of Virginia - State - $52,700 - $103,000 Virginia Commonwealth University - State - $42,000 - $68,400 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - Engineering - $53,500 - $95,400 Washington and Lee University - Liberal Arts - $53,600 - $104,000
Alec Depcrynksi is a recent graduate of Randolph-Macon College. He covers commercial real estate, retail and small business for BizSense. Email story ideas to
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ALB Tech LLC - pc/mac repair & web design in the Fan written by Adam Bell,
August 05, 2008
It seems to me there is an interesting correlation between in-state tuition cost and alumni annual income.
The more you put in (money), the more you get out. At least for in state students.
I'd love for a little more research to be done to find out whether my hunch is accurate.
Also - I believe alumni relocation has a large impact on the matter. For example - I know very few students of James Madison University who remained in Harrisonburg post graduation. Richmond, however, home of the loser university (VCU)in the above article, educates and then employs their alumni. Perhaps this figures into the post graduation income rankings as well...
And hey - maybe musicians and artists graduate poor and remain so for quite some time. VCU has quite a few Fine Arts graduates - this could account for some of low numbers reported in the study.
Left brain = big bucks ------- Right brain = life sucks?
First, why is JMU(my alma mater) always left out of every Virginia college statistics? Second, VCU's two highest-rated programs, social work and Arts are not exactly high-paying careers. Considering the two schools at the top of the list, W&L and UVA, I'd be willing to bet the amount of students accepting jobs on Wall Street drastically affects the rankings - not that it is irrelevant - just an observation.
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The more you put in (money), the more you get out. At least for in state students.
I'd love for a little more research to be done to find out whether my hunch is accurate.
Also - I believe alumni relocation has a large impact on the matter. For example - I know very few students of James Madison University who remained in Harrisonburg post graduation. Richmond, however, home of the loser university (VCU)in the above article, educates and then employs their alumni. Perhaps this figures into the post graduation income rankings as well...
And hey - maybe musicians and artists graduate poor and remain so for quite some time. VCU has quite a few Fine Arts graduates - this could account for some of low numbers reported in the study.
Left brain = big bucks ------- Right brain = life sucks?
What do ya'll think?