Skip to content
CollegeRanker

Rankings / Social Mobility

Colleges Getting More Accessible Over Time

By David Krug, Co-Founder, CollegeRanker · Updated 2026-05-31 · 50 schools · Agent Insights
50
Schools Analyzed
$74,919
Avg. Earnings (10yr)
77%
Avg. Graduation Rate
$20,783
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 $74,919
Avg. graduation rate 77%
Avg. net price $20,783
Avg. median debt $19,641

How We Ranked

Ranked by improvement in bottom-20% access over time. Positive trend = school is becoming more accessible. Data: Chetty.

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 PRICEUniversity ofGeorgia InstituteUniversity ofMichigan StateMichigan Technological

Graduation Rates

Longer bars = higher graduation rate.

University of Connecticut84%Georgia Institute of Tec…93%University of Georgia89%Michigan State University81%Michigan Technological U…68%Louisiana Tech University61%Pittsburg State Universi…57%Oakland University57%University of Southern M…50%University of North Caro…92%University of Toledo56%Virginia State University40%University of Utah64%William & Mary90%University of Florida91%Yale University96%American University77%Emory University91%Georgia State University53%University of Notre Dame96%

Top 3

#1

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT

Graduation84%
Earnings$73,997
Net Price$25,097

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 Georgia

Athens, GA

Graduation89%
Earnings$68,726
Net Price$13,936

View full profile →

Sponsored

Featured Programs From Accredited Schools

Accredited schools accepting applicants in this field.

Ad

Full Rankings

#1

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT · 19,835 students · Public

52% accepted 84% graduate $73,997 earnings
University'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 Georgia

Athens, GA · 32,137 students · Public

38% accepted 89% graduate $68,726 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

Louisiana Tech University

Ruston, LA · 8,312 students · Public

86% accepted 61% graduate $52,279 earnings
Louisiana's full profile
#7

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg, KS · 4,210 students · Public

89% accepted 57% graduate $50,579 earnings
Pittsburg's full profile
#8

Oakland University

Rochester Hills, MI · 12,351 students · Public

88% accepted 57% graduate $58,612 earnings
Oakland's full profile
#9

University of Southern Mississippi

Hattiesburg, MS · 10,075 students · Public

99% accepted 50% graduate $44,140 earnings
University's full profile
#10

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC · 20,752 students · Public

15% accepted 92% graduate $72,200 earnings
University's full profile
#11

University of Toledo

Toledo, OH · 9,770 students · Public

92% accepted 56% graduate $50,632 earnings
University's full profile
#12

Virginia State University

Petersburg, VA · 5,074 students · Public

89% accepted 40% graduate $45,543 earnings
Virginia's full profile
#13

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, UT · 27,264 students · Public

86% accepted 64% graduate $67,170 earnings
University's full profile
#14

William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA · 7,055 students · Public

34% accepted 90% graduate $73,490 earnings
William's full profile
#15

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL · 35,629 students · Public

24% accepted 91% graduate $71,588 earnings
University's full profile
#16

Yale University

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

4% accepted 96% graduate $100,533 earnings
Yale's full profile
#17

American University

Washington, DC · 7,266 students · Private nonprofit

62% accepted 77% graduate $77,370 earnings
American's full profile
#18

Emory University

Atlanta, GA · 7,298 students · Private nonprofit

11% accepted 91% graduate $80,137 earnings
Emory's full profile
#19

Georgia State University

Atlanta, GA · 26,623 students · Public

55% accepted 53% graduate $47,384 earnings
Georgia's full profile
#20

University of Notre Dame

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

11% accepted 96% graduate $99,980 earnings
University's full profile
#21

Florida Institute of Technology

Melbourne, FL · 3,404 students · Private nonprofit

58% accepted 64% graduate $43,137 earnings
Florida's full profile
#22

University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL · 12,913 students · Private nonprofit

19% accepted 84% graduate $75,328 earnings
University's full profile
#23

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL · 7,569 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 95% graduate $91,885 earnings
University's full profile
#24

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, IL · 2,833 students · Private nonprofit

55% accepted 74% graduate $82,592 earnings
Illinois's full profile
#25

Wayne State University

Detroit, MI · 15,587 students · Public

81% accepted 58% graduate $53,493 earnings
Wayne's full profile
#26

Brandeis University

Waltham, MA · 3,618 students · Private nonprofit

41% accepted 86% graduate $77,231 earnings
Brandeis's full profile
#27

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA · 7,601 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 97% graduate $101,817 earnings
Harvard's full profile
#28

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA · 4,535 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $143,372 earnings
Massachusetts's full profile
#29

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Rolla, MO · 5,521 students · Public

73% accepted 64% graduate $82,957 earnings
Missouri's full profile
#30

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH · 4,541 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $97,434 earnings
Dartmouth's full profile
#31

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ · 5,709 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 97% graduate $110,066 earnings
Princeton's full profile
#32

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, NY · 13,215 students · Private nonprofit

67% accepted 70% graduate $76,571 earnings
Rochester's full profile
#33

Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY · 15,477 students · Private nonprofit

46% accepted 82% graduate $79,164 earnings
Syracuse's full profile
#34

Yeshiva University

New York, NY · 2,852 students · Private nonprofit

56% accepted 83% graduate $71,353 earnings
Yeshiva's full profile
#35

Duke University

Durham, NC · 6,442 students · Private nonprofit

6% accepted 96% graduate $97,800 earnings
Duke's full profile
#36

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Greensboro, NC · 14,062 students · Public

89% accepted 57% graduate $48,160 earnings
University's full profile
#37

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC · 5,485 students · Private nonprofit

22% accepted 90% graduate $78,158 earnings
Wake's full profile
#38

Brown University

Providence, RI · 7,226 students · Private nonprofit

5% accepted 96% graduate $93,487 earnings
Brown's full profile
#39

Rice University

Houston, TX · 4,776 students · Private nonprofit

8% accepted 95% graduate $89,718 earnings
Rice's full profile
#40

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN · 7,208 students · Private nonprofit

6% accepted 93% graduate $91,565 earnings
Vanderbilt's full profile
#41

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD · 5,439 students · Public

99% accepted 61% graduate $51,926 earnings
University's full profile
#42

The University of Texas at Arlington

Arlington, TX · 32,294 students · Public

80% accepted 55% graduate $63,199 earnings
The's full profile
#43

The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX · 42,855 students · Public

27% accepted 88% graduate $75,121 earnings
The's full profile
#44

The University of Texas at Dallas

Richardson, TX · 21,751 students · Public

65% accepted 75% graduate $68,227 earnings
The's full profile
#45

Stanford University

Stanford, CA · 7,554 students · Private nonprofit

4% accepted 92% graduate $124,080 earnings
Stanford's full profile
#46

Arkansas State University

Jonesboro, AR · 9,110 students · Public

82% accepted 55% graduate $42,617 earnings
Arkansas's full profile
#47

Arkansas Tech University

Russellville, AR · 5,388 students · Public

96% accepted 49% graduate $41,766 earnings
Arkansas's full profile
#48

Georgetown University

Washington, DC · 7,569 students · Private nonprofit

13% accepted 95% graduate $103,494 earnings
Georgetown's full profile
#49

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI · 10,035 students · Public

90% accepted 60% graduate $55,874 earnings
Central's full profile
#50

Eastern Michigan University

Ypsilanti, MI · 10,055 students · Public

80% accepted 46% graduate $51,793 earnings
Eastern'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]

Chetty, R., Jackson, M., Kuchler, T., et al. (2022). Social Capital I: Measurement and Associations with Economic Mobility. Nature, 608, 108-121. →

[3]

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

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