While your potential salary out of college isn't always a concern of high school seniors when they're choosing a school, where you go to college can make a big difference in terms of how much money you'll go on to make. And the university that will position you best in the marketplace isn't always the one you assume it'll be.
Career services site Zippia combed through data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to find the institution in each U.S. state where graduates go on to earn the highest salaries. To compile its list, Zippia combined the the median earnings for schools both six and 10 years after graduation, in order to find schools that boast the highest earners overall. You can read more about the methodology here.
Some top-tier universities, such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, show up, like you might expect they would, topping the list for their respective states. So do some state schools. And sometimes Ivies and flagship campuses are both beaten by a dark horse: Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, for example, raced past Columbia and New York University to earn the top spot in New York and one of the top ten spots overall.
Here's the full list of schools, listed alphabetically by state:
Alabama: Samford University
Average earnings: $59,450
Alaska: Alaska Pacific University
Average earnings: $44,600
Arizona: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Prescott
Average earnings: $57,800
Arkansas: John Brown University
Average earnings: $49,450
California: Stanford University
Average earnings: $112,850
Colorado: Colorado School of Mines
Average earnings: $74,250
Connecticut: Yale University
Average earnings: $85,850
Delaware: University of Delaware
Average earnings: $51,550
Florida: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Daytona Beach
Average earnings: $57,800
Georgia: Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
Average earnings: $69,250
Hawaii: Hawaii Pacific University
Average earnings: $47,000
Idaho: University of Idaho
Average earnings: $39,750
Illinois: University of Chicago
Average earnings: $82,800
Indiana: University of Notre Dame
Average earnings: $78,300
Iowa: Drake University
Average earnings: $58,600
Kansas: Baker University
Average earnings: $49,250
Kentucky: Thomas More College
Average earnings: $49,650
Louisiana: Tulane University
Average earnings: $60,150
Maine: Maine Maritime Academy
Average earnings: $79,550
Maryland: Johns Hopkins University
Average earnings: $74,000
Massachusetts: Harvard University
Average earnings: $118,400
Michigan: Kettering University
Average earnings: $68,250
Minnesota: Saint John's University
Average earnings: $54,400
Mississippi: University of Mississippi
Average earnings: $47,150
Missouri: Washington University in St. Louis
Average earnings: $70,200
Montana: Montana Tech of the University of Montana
Average earnings: $46,800
Nebraska: Creighton University
Average earnings: $57,800
Nevada: University of Nevada at Reno
Average earnings: $46,000
New Hampshire: Dartmouth College
Average earnings: $85,100
New Jersey: Princeton University
Average earnings: $92,300
New Mexico: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Average earnings: $50,150
New York: Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Average earnings: $101,150
North Carolina: Duke University
Average earnings: $97,600
North Dakota: University of North Dakota
Average earnings: $49,100
Ohio: Case Western Reserve University
Average earnings: $71,600
Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma
Average earnings: $51,550
Oregon: University of Portland
Average earnings: $51,700
Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
Average earnings: $102,850
Rhode Island: Brown University
Average earnings: $67,900
South Carolina: Clemson University
Average earnings: $48,950
South Dakota: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Average earnings: $52,900
Tennessee: Vanderbilt University
Average earnings: $67,800
Texas: Rice University
Average earnings: $70,700
Utah: Brigham Young University at Provo
Average earnings: $54,400
Vermont: Middlebury College
Average earnings: $65,850
Virginia: Washington and Lee University
Average earnings: $75,950
Washington: University of Washington at Seattle
Average earnings: $54,700
West Virginia: West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Average earnings: $43,750
Wisconsin: Milwaukee School of Engineering
Average earnings: $58,500