Skip to content
CollegeRanker

Rankings / Innovation

Colleges With the Highest Inventor Rate

By David Krug, Co-Founder, CollegeRanker · Updated 2026-05-31 · 50 schools · Agent Insights
50
Schools Analyzed
$83,687
Avg. Earnings (10yr)
82%
Avg. Graduation Rate
$23,533
Avg. Net Price

Find Your Program

Explore Accredited Programs in This Field

Find accredited programs in this field accepting applicants.

✓ Accredited programs ✓ 100% free ✓ No obligation

This ranking scores 50 institutions on graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt burdens, and social mobility data from Opportunity Insights. Every data point comes from federal sources. No surveys, no opinions.

Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in our algorithm. We use Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on 30 million anonymized tax records — to measure whether a college changes a family's economic trajectory across generations. Schools that take low-income students and launch them into higher earnings rank higher than schools that admit wealthy students and take credit for their success.

The transparency penalty matters here. Schools that don't report their data get scored lower than schools that do. If an institution won't show you its numbers, we think you should know that before you write them a tuition check.

Quick Numbers

Schools ranked 50
Avg. earnings at 10yr $83,687
Avg. graduation rate 82%
Avg. net price $23,533
Avg. median debt $19,402

How We Ranked

What % of graduates become patent inventors? The direct measure of innovation output. Data: Opportunity Insights.

Read our full methodology →

Earnings vs. Cost

Each dot is a ranked school. Up = higher earnings. Right = higher cost. Top-left is the best value.

$15K$79K$143K$0$50KNET PRICEColorado SchoolGeorgia InstituteUniversity ofMichigan StateMichigan Technological

Graduation Rates

Longer bars = higher graduation rate.

Colorado School of Mines81%Georgia Institute of Tec…93%University of Florida91%Michigan State University81%Michigan Technological U…68%New Jersey Institute of …73%North Carolina A & T Sta…56%Clemson University87%Virginia Polytechnic Ins…86%Virginia State University40%Yale University96%University of Southern C…92%University of Notre Dame96%Florida Institute of Tec…64%University of Chicago95%Illinois Institute of Te…74%Tufts University93%Johns Hopkins University94%Boston University89%Brandeis University86%

Top 3

#1

Colorado School of Mines

Golden, CO

Graduation81%
Earnings$97,335
Net Price$28,690

View full profile →
#2

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Atlanta, GA

Graduation93%
Earnings$102,772
Net Price$12,116

View full profile →
#3

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

Graduation91%
Earnings$71,588
Net Price$6,541

View full profile →

Sponsored

Featured Programs From Accredited Schools

Accredited schools accepting applicants in this field.

Ad

Full Rankings

#1

Colorado School of Mines

Golden, CO · 6,155 students · Public

61% accepted 81% graduate $97,335 earnings
Colorado's full profile
#2

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Atlanta, GA · 18,785 students · Public

14% accepted 93% graduate $102,772 earnings
Georgia's full profile
#3

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL · 35,629 students · Public

24% accepted 91% graduate $71,588 earnings
University's full profile
#4

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI · 40,922 students · Public

85% accepted 81% graduate $67,253 earnings
Michigan's full profile
#5

Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI · 5,955 students · Public

92% accepted 68% graduate $78,198 earnings
Michigan's full profile
#6

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Newark, NJ · 9,019 students · Public

65% accepted 73% graduate $84,276 earnings
New's full profile
#7

North Carolina A & T State University

Greensboro, NC · 12,182 students · Public

50% accepted 56% graduate $44,440 earnings
North's full profile
#8

Clemson University

Clemson, SC · 23,300 students · Public

38% accepted 87% graduate $71,513 earnings
Clemson's full profile
#9

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA · 30,923 students · Public

55% accepted 86% graduate $81,698 earnings
Virginia's full profile
#10

Virginia State University

Petersburg, VA · 5,074 students · Public

89% accepted 40% graduate $45,543 earnings
Virginia's full profile
#11

Yale University

New Haven, CT · 6,758 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 96% graduate $100,533 earnings
Yale's full profile
#12

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA · 20,443 students · Private nonprofit

10% accepted 92% graduate $92,498 earnings
University's full profile
#13

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN · 8,818 students · Private nonprofit

11% accepted 96% graduate $99,980 earnings
University's full profile
#14

Florida Institute of Technology

Melbourne, FL · 3,404 students · Private nonprofit

58% accepted 64% graduate $43,137 earnings
Florida's full profile
#15

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL · 7,569 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 95% graduate $91,885 earnings
University's full profile
#16

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, IL · 2,833 students · Private nonprofit

55% accepted 74% graduate $82,592 earnings
Illinois's full profile
#17

Tufts University

Medford, MA · 7,061 students · Private nonprofit

11% accepted 93% graduate $83,214 earnings
Tufts's full profile
#18

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD · 5,693 students · Private nonprofit

6% accepted 94% graduate $87,555 earnings
Johns's full profile
#19

Boston University

Boston, MA · 18,248 students · Private nonprofit

11% accepted 89% graduate $83,238 earnings
Boston's full profile
#20

Brandeis University

Waltham, MA · 3,618 students · Private nonprofit

41% accepted 86% graduate $77,231 earnings
Brandeis's full profile
#21

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA · 7,601 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 97% graduate $101,817 earnings
Harvard's full profile
#22

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA · 4,535 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $143,372 earnings
Massachusetts's full profile
#23

Washington University in St Louis

St. Louis, MO · 7,857 students · Private nonprofit

12% accepted 94% graduate $86,182 earnings
Washington's full profile
#24

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH · 4,541 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $97,434 earnings
Dartmouth's full profile
#25

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY · 15,995 students · Private nonprofit

9% accepted 95% graduate $104,043 earnings
Cornell's full profile
#26

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ · 5,709 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 97% graduate $110,066 earnings
Princeton's full profile
#27

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY · 5,714 students · Private nonprofit

63% accepted 83% graduate $102,051 earnings
Rensselaer's full profile
#28

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, NY · 13,215 students · Private nonprofit

67% accepted 70% graduate $76,571 earnings
Rochester's full profile
#29

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY · 6,331 students · Private nonprofit

40% accepted 85% graduate $79,042 earnings
University's full profile
#30

Duke University

Durham, NC · 6,442 students · Private nonprofit

6% accepted 96% graduate $97,800 earnings
Duke's full profile
#31

Case Western Reserve University

Cleveland, OH · 6,437 students · Private nonprofit

37% accepted 87% graduate $87,989 earnings
Case's full profile
#32

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA · 10,650 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 97% graduate $111,371 earnings
University's full profile
#33

Brown University

Providence, RI · 7,226 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $93,487 earnings
Brown's full profile
#34

Rice University

Houston, TX · 4,776 students · Private nonprofit

8% accepted 95% graduate $89,718 earnings
Rice's full profile
#35

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN · 7,208 students · Private nonprofit

6% accepted 93% graduate $91,565 earnings
Vanderbilt's full profile
#36

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA · 7,304 students · Private nonprofit

12% accepted 93% graduate $114,862 earnings
Carnegie's full profile
#37

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA · 5,898 students · Private nonprofit

26% accepted 89% graduate $105,584 earnings
Lehigh's full profile
#38

The University of Texas at Dallas

Richardson, TX · 21,751 students · Public

65% accepted 75% graduate $68,227 earnings
The's full profile
#39

Stanford University

Stanford, CA · 7,554 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 92% graduate $124,080 earnings
Stanford's full profile
#40

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA · 1,175 students · Private nonprofit

80% accepted 65% graduate $49,802 earnings
Northwestern's full profile
#41

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Socorro, NM · 995 students · Public

44% accepted 57% graduate $76,489 earnings
New's full profile
#42

Northeastern State University

Tahlequah, OK · 4,772 students · Public

100% accepted 36% graduate $45,379 earnings
Northeastern's full profile
#43

Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR · 2,892 students · Public

95% accepted 56% graduate $72,273 earnings
Oregon's full profile
#44

West Virginia University

Morgantown, WV · 17,385 students · Public

89% accepted 63% graduate $55,939 earnings
West's full profile
#45

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA · 6,552 students · Private nonprofit

48% accepted 88% graduate $109,183 earnings
Santa's full profile
#46

Pomona College

Claremont, CA · 1,666 students · Private nonprofit

7% accepted 93% graduate $77,779 earnings
Pomona's full profile
#47

Savannah College of Art and Design

Savannah, GA · 15,243 students · Private nonprofit

83% accepted 70% graduate $45,954 earnings
Savannah's full profile
#48

University of Evansville

Evansville, IN · 1,539 students · Private nonprofit

78% accepted 68% graduate $53,770 earnings
University's full profile
#49

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN · 2,083 students · Private nonprofit

89% accepted 69% graduate $63,191 earnings
Valparaiso's full profile
#50

Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA · 1,729 students · Private nonprofit

15% accepted 88% graduate $62,830 earnings
Grinnell's full profile

Sources & Citations

[1]

Chetty, R., Friedman, J., Saez, E., Turner, N., & Yagan, D. (2017). Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility. NBER Working Paper No. 23618. →

[2]

U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard Data. Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics. →

[3]

Bell, A., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2019). Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(2), 647-713. →

DK

David Krug

Co-Founder, CollegeRanker

David Krug is the co-founder of CollegeRanker and a data systems architect focused on making institutional research accessible to families. He builds the data pipelines and ranking algorithms that power CollegeRanker, drawing from federal datasets and Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights research to measure what traditional rankings ignore: whether a college actually changes a family's economic trajectory.

Related Rankings

All Rankings Methodology Best Colleges Social Mobility Highest Mobility