College Outcomes Data: Earnings, Debt and Completion — Together
Most college information is sold one number at a time: a salary figure in a brochure, a ranking in a magazine, a price in an advertisement. College Outcomes Data publishes the three numbers that decide whether a degree pays — median earnings, median debt and completion rate — side by side, from one federal source, with the definitions stated on the page. Our launch edition profiles 125 institutions, from the largest universities in America to the best-known names in admissions, and 32 fields of study, every figure drawn from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard release retrieved in October 2026.
Median earnings ten years after entry, across the 1,495 predominantly bachelor's institutions reporting earnings, debt and completion together — with median graduate debt of $21,625 and median completion of 55.7%.
Highest earners in the launch edition
| Institution | Earnings (10 yr) | Graduate debt | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Institute of Technology | $166,642 | $7,500 | 89.8% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $152,553 | $14,000 | 95.7% |
| Princeton University | $133,523 | $12,400 | 97.4% |
| Stanford University | $125,340 | $10,750 | 91.6% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | $125,257 | $19,000 | 94.3% |
Read that table the way this site intends every table to be read: the earnings column is inseparable from the two beside it. A college at the top on earnings whose graduates also finish at very high rates and borrow moderately is a different proposition from one reaching similar earnings with heavy borrowing, and the difference is not a detail — over a working life it is measured in years of payments. Our rankings sort the launch edition four ways, and every sort carries all three measures for exactly this reason.
Start with the programme, not just the campus
For most students the field of study moves earnings and debt more than the choice between similar colleges does. Our field pages report median programme earnings and debt for 32 bachelor's fields, name the colleges whose programmes lead each field, and state plainly the one thing federal data cannot give you: a completion rate by major, which the field-of-study file does not publish. Pair a field page with the college profiles it points to, and you have the comparison — programme outcomes inside an institution whose overall completion you can see — that a brochure will never assemble for you.
How this site works
Every figure traces to a named College Scorecard file, a named release and a retrieval date, documented on our methodology page. Earnings cover federal financial-aid recipients who were working and not enrolled at measurement; we repeat that caveat on every profile because it changes what the figures mean. Privacy-suppressed values are shown as absences, never replaced with estimates. If you are new to these statistics, the Learn section explains each measure, its population and its limits before you trust any of them — including ours.
Note on this data: Figures on this page come from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard release retrieved in October 2026. Earnings cover students who received federal financial aid and were working and not enrolled at the measurement point; they are medians for a defined past cohort, not a promise of what any individual graduate will earn. Check the college and the Scorecard for the most current figures before you decide.