{
  "major": "Economics",
  "slug": "economics",
  "field": "Social Sciences & Humanities",
  "as_of": "2026",
  "url": "https://collegeranked.com/best-economics-schools/",
  "source": "U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2026 release); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics",
  "metric_definitions": {
    "median_earnings": "Median earnings one year after graduation (Scorecard)",
    "net_price": "Average annual cost of attendance after grant aid. For PUBLIC schools this reflects IN-STATE cost; out-of-state students pay more.",
    "roi_10yr_usd": "Ten years of earnings minus four years of net price",
    "public": "true = public university (net_price is in-state basis); false = private (residency-neutral)"
  },
  "total_colleges_with_reported_data": 357,
  "shown": 25,
  "ranking": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "school": "Harvard University",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 103993,
      "net_price": 19066,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 963666,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "school": "Stanford University",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 98104,
      "net_price": 13807,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 925812,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "school": "University of Chicago",
      "state": "IL",
      "median_earnings": 92075,
      "net_price": 14860,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 861310,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "school": "Duke University",
      "state": "NC",
      "median_earnings": 98649,
      "net_price": 29612,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 868042,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "school": "Amherst College",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 90568,
      "net_price": 23367,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 812212,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "school": "Vanderbilt University",
      "state": "TN",
      "median_earnings": 84311,
      "net_price": 15846,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 779726,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 7,
      "school": "Dartmouth College",
      "state": "NH",
      "median_earnings": 94675,
      "net_price": 29519,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 828674,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 8,
      "school": "Williams College",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 80888,
      "net_price": 17716,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 738016,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 9,
      "school": "University of California-Berkeley",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 80446,
      "net_price": 13481,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 750536,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 10,
      "school": "Claremont McKenna College",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 89505,
      "net_price": 28849,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 779654,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 11,
      "school": "University of Pennsylvania",
      "state": "PA",
      "median_earnings": 89097,
      "net_price": 28699,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 776174,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 12,
      "school": "Columbia University in the City of New York",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 83135,
      "net_price": 21590,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 744990,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 13,
      "school": "Yale University",
      "state": "CT",
      "median_earnings": 82617,
      "net_price": 23777,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 731062,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 14,
      "school": "Rice University",
      "state": "TX",
      "median_earnings": 78814,
      "net_price": 13370,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 734660,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 15,
      "school": "Johns Hopkins University",
      "state": "MD",
      "median_earnings": 78181,
      "net_price": 18809,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 706574,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 16,
      "school": "Colby College",
      "state": "ME",
      "median_earnings": 76401,
      "net_price": 17180,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 695290,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 17,
      "school": "Bowdoin College",
      "state": "ME",
      "median_earnings": 75867,
      "net_price": 14398,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 701078,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 18,
      "school": "Middlebury College",
      "state": "VT",
      "median_earnings": 85879,
      "net_price": 31483,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 732858,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 19,
      "school": "Barnard College",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 85860,
      "net_price": 28800,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 743400,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 20,
      "school": "Swarthmore College",
      "state": "PA",
      "median_earnings": 76944,
      "net_price": 23149,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 676844,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 21,
      "school": "Pomona College",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 70051,
      "net_price": 19285,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 623370,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 22,
      "school": "University of Michigan-Ann Arbor",
      "state": "MI",
      "median_earnings": 68416,
      "net_price": 13138,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 631608,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 23,
      "school": "Carnegie Mellon University",
      "state": "PA",
      "median_earnings": 86284,
      "net_price": 31944,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 735064,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 24,
      "school": "Cornell University",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 84967,
      "net_price": 28690,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 734910,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 25,
      "school": "Northwestern University",
      "state": "IL",
      "median_earnings": 84932,
      "net_price": 29167,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 732652,
      "public": false
    }
  ]
}