The Top 100 Universities in the U.S. Based on Post-Graduation Liquidity

Yoora Park

Published:

Updated:

How much money will I have in my wallet 10 years from now? That is a question prospective college students should keep in mind when choosing a school.

Unfortunately, while students have many ways to compare prospective higher education choices, few tools focus on the numbers that matter most, as in, how different a college student’s financial health could be 10 years after attending college A instead of college B.  

To address this issue, The University Network (TUN) has created the School Analysis Tool, which enables students and their families to compare a whole host of data for their higher education choices, including:

  • actual annual cost based on different family income levels;
  • post graduation earnings;
  • graduation rate;
  • retention rate; and
  • average debt.

In addition, TUN has constructed a few ratios to help students make an apples-to-apples comparison of the schools they want to consider. One of these ratios is the Monthly Liquidity Ratio, which provides a way to compare schools based on the salary and monthly loan payments students can expect.

To construct the ratio, we used data from the U.S. Department of Education (as of August 28, 2017) showing the median monthly gross earnings 10 years after start of attending school divided by the median monthly debt payment that graduates with loans experience with a 10-year repayment schedule at a 4.29 percent interest rate.

We found an average Monthly Liquidity Ratio of 18.2 to one for the 3,352 schools in the U.S. that provided the necessary data.

The higher the ratio, the better it is for students with loans to pay back. Harvard University topped the list at a ratio of 119.3 to one, a little more than 6 times the national average, so Harvard graduates with loans are in much better shape than others. With such a high liquidity ratio, they likely won’t have to worry about how they will make their monthly student loan payments.  

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The Top 100 Universities in the U.S. Based On Graduates’ Monthly Liquidity Ratios

While the School Analysis Tool makes it easy to compare schools based on available financial data, we have limited the following three top 100 lists to schools with a graduation rate of greater than 50 percent and enrollment greater than 500 students:  

  1. Monthly Liquidity Ratios for the top 100 all 4-year schools;
  2. Monthly Liquidity Ratios for the top 100 public 4-year schools; and
  3. Monthly Liquidity Ratios for the top 100 private 4-year schools.

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A. Here is a list of the top 100 all 4-year schools based on their Monthly Liquidity Ratios (average monthly liquidity ratio of 16.8 to one for this data subset): 

Rank School Ratio
1 Harvard University 119.3
2 Princeton University 84.3
3 Duke University 83.0
4 Stanford University 54.6
5 Rice University 54.3
6 California Institute of Technology 53.5
7 Wellesley College 51.0
8 Cornell University 48.6
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 48.3
10 Dartmouth College 45.9
11 Berea College 44.8
12 Yale University 43.7
13 Pomona College 42.6
14 Brigham Young University-Provo 42.2
15 University of Chicago 41.6
16 Brigham Young University-Hawaii 40.6
17 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College 40.5
18 Georgetown University 40.1
19 Claremont McKenna College 39.9
20 Amherst College 39.1
21 Vanderbilt University 37.9
22 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 36.9
23 CUNY Hunter College 36.3
24 Boricua College 35.1
25 CUNY Queens College 35.1
26 University of California-Berkeley 34.8
27 CUNY Brooklyn College 34.6
28 MCPHS University 34.1
29 Williams College 33.3
30 Johns Hopkins University 32.9
31 Haverford College 32.8
32 Grinnell College 32.2
33 Brown University 31.3
34 University of California-Davis 30.9
35 Colgate University 30.4
36 University of Pennsylvania 30.1
37 University of California-Los Angeles 30.0
38 Tufts University 29.3
39 Hamilton College 29.1
40 University of the Sciences 28.8
41 Brigham Young University-Idaho 28.6
42 Boston College 28.5
43 Scripps College 28.2
44 San Jose State University 27.9
45 Northwestern University 27.7
46 University of Florida 27.7
47 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus 27.6
48 University of Washington-Bothell Campus 27.6
49 University of Washington-Seattle Campus 27.6
50 Barnard College 27.6
51 Washington and Lee University 27.5
52 Ranken Technical College 26.9
53 University of Utah 26.8
54 University of Notre Dame 26.8
55 Santa Clara University 26.8
56 Columbia University in the City of New York 26.5
57 Utah State University 26.4
58 Pima Medical Institute-Tucson 26.3
59 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo 26.2
60 Babson College 26.1
61 University of California-Irvine 26.0
62 Bates College 25.7
63 Davidson College 25.7
64 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 25.6
65 University of Southern California 25.6
66 Middlebury College 25.6
67 Emory University 25.4
68 University of California-San Diego 25.2
69 University of Maryland-College Park 25.2
70 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 24.9
71 Lehigh University 24.9
72 Washington University in St Louis 24.9
73 University of Virginia-Main Campus 24.9
74 University of California-Santa Barbara 24.8
75 The California Maritime Academy 24.8
76 Stevens Institute of Technology 24.7
77 Carnegie Mellon University 24.5
78 California State University-Fullerton 24.5
79 California State University-Long Beach 24.4
80 University of Richmond 24.4
81 New Jersey Institute of Technology 24.4
82 Southern California Institute of Technology 24.2
83 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 24.1
84 San Diego State University 24.1
85 Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-San Francisco 24.0
86 Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-Los Angeles 24.0
87 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 23.9
88 Vassar College 23.9
89 Yeshiva University 23.9
90 Florida College 23.9
91 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 23.8
92 Mount Carmel College of Nursing 23.7
93 Maine Maritime Academy 23.7
94 University of the Pacific 23.7
95 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 23.5
96 Santa Fe College 23.4
97 Southern Utah University 23.4
98 SUNY at Binghamton 23.3
99 Kettering University 23.3
100 George Mason University 23.3

Here are some interesting data we found with respect to the top 100 4-year school list:

  • All the Ivy Leagues made it to the list.
  • 4 CUNY schools made it to the list.
  • 23 schools in California, 16 schools in New York, and 10 schools in Massachusetts made it to the list.
  • 68 private and 32 public schools made it to the list.
  • The average test scores are as follows:
    • SAT Verbal: 639.92
    • SAT Math: 663.48
    • SAT Writing: 658.82
    • ACT English: 29.15
    • ACT Math: 28.82
    • ACT Writing: 8.64
  • The average admission rate is as follows:
    • Top 10 Schools = 12%
    • Top 20 Schools = 17%
    • Top 30 Schools = 23%
    • Top 40 Schools = 23%
    • Top 50 Schools = 29%
    • Top 60 Schools = 31%
    • Top 70 Schools = 31%
    • Top 80 Schools = 33%
    • Top 90 Schools = 33%
    • Top 100 Schools = 36%
  • The average annual net price for federal financial aid recipients, after aid from the school, state, or federal government, is $20,492.
    • An average of 26% receive Pell Grants.
    • An average of 35% of undergraduates receive federal student loans.
  • The median earnings (of former students who received federal financial aid, 10 years after entry) is $59,200.
    • The median debt of completers is $15,898.

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B. Here is a list of the top 100 public 4-year schools based on their Monthly Liquidity Ratios (average monthly liquidity ratio of 17.6 to one for this data subset): 

Rank School Ratio
1 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College 40.5
2 CUNY Hunter College 36.3
3 CUNY Queens College 35.1
4 University of California-Berkeley 34.8
5 CUNY Brooklyn College 34.6
6 University of California-Davis 30.9
7 University of California-Los Angeles 30.0
8 San Jose State University 27.9
9 University of Florida 27.7
10 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus 27.6
11 University of Washington-Bothell Campus 27.6
12 University of Washington-Seattle Campus 27.6
13 University of Utah 26.8
14 Utah State University 26.4
15 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo 26.2
16 University of California-Irvine 26.0
17 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 25.6
18 University of California-San Diego 25.2
19 University of Maryland-College Park 25.2
20 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 24.9
21 University of Virginia-Main Campus 24.9
22 University of California-Santa Barbara 24.8
23 The California Maritime Academy 24.8
24 California State University-Fullerton 24.5
25 California State University-Long Beach 24.4
26 New Jersey Institute of Technology 24.4
27 San Diego State University 24.1
28 Maine Maritime Academy 23.7
29 Santa Fe College 23.4
30 Southern Utah University 23.4
31 SUNY at Binghamton 23.3
32 George Mason University 23.3
33 Stony Brook University 23.1
34 Texas A & M University-College Station 23.0
35 College of William and Mary 22.9
36 Colorado School of Mines 22.9
37 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 22.7
38 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 22.4
39 California State University-Stanislaus 22.4
40 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona 22.3
41 University of Illinois at Chicago 22.1
42 Vermont Technical College 22.1
43 California State University-Chico 21.8
44 California State University-Fresno 21.8
45 Towson University 21.6
46 The University of Texas at Dallas 21.2
47 James Madison University 20.8
48 Missouri University of Science and Technology 20.8
49 Massachusetts Maritime Academy 20.8
50 Florida International University 20.6
51 University of Connecticut 20.4
52 Rutgers University-Camden 20.4
53 Rutgers University-Newark 20.4
54 Rutgers University-New Brunswick 20.4
55 University of Georgia 20.2
56 Sonoma State University 20.2
57 University at Buffalo 20.2
58 University of Wyoming 20.0
59 Virginia Military Institute 19.9
60 University of Maryland-Baltimore County 19.9
61 University of Colorado Boulder 19.9
62 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 19.8
63 University of California-Riverside 19.7
64 Purdue University-Main Campus 19.6
65 The College of New Jersey 19.6
66 University of Nevada-Reno 19.5
67 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus 19.4
68 The University of Texas at Austin 19.4
69 University of North Florida 19.2
70 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 19.1
71 Tennessee Technological University 19.1
72 University of Central Florida 19.0
73 Michigan Technological University 19.0
74 SUNY at Albany 18.9
75 Clemson University 18.9
76 North Carolina State University at Raleigh 18.9
77 Washington State University 18.8
78 University of Arizona 18.8
79 Worcester State University 18.7
80 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College 18.6
81 Rowan University 18.5
82 Salisbury University 18.5
83 St Mary’s College of Maryland 18.5
84 University of Iowa 18.4
85 University of Delaware 18.4
86 University of Kansas 18.4
87 University of Hawaii at Manoa 18.4
88 University of Wisconsin-Madison 18.4
89 Fashion Institute of Technology 18.4
90 SUNY College at Geneseo 18.3
91 Western Washington University 18.2
92 State University of New York at New Paltz 18.2
93 Arizona State University-Tempe 18.1
94 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus 17.7
95 University of Mary Washington 17.7
96 Stockton University 17.6
97 University of California-Santa Cruz 17.6
98 University of Missouri-Columbia 17.3
99 University of Missouri-Kansas City 17.2
100 Colorado State University-Fort Collins 17.2

Here are some interesting data we found with respect to the top 100 public 4-year school list:

  • 4 CUNY schools made it to the top 5 of the list.
  • 19 schools in California and 11 schools in New York made it to the list.
  • The average test scores are as follows:
    • SAT Verbal: 569.59
    • SAT Math: 597.50
    • SAT Writing: 575.10
    • ACT English: 25.72
    • ACT Math: 25.88
    • ACT Writing: 8.32
  • The average admission rate is as follows:
    • Top 10 Schools = 40%
    • Top 20 Schools = 46%
    • Top 30 Schools = 47%
    • Top 40 Schools = 48%
    • Top 50 Schools = 52%
    • Top 60 Schools = 54%
    • Top 70 Schools = 55%
    • Top 80 Schools = 57%
    • Top 90 Schools = 58%
    • Top 100 Schools = 59%
  • The average annual net price for federal financial aid recipients, after aid from the school, state, or federal government, is $14,860.
    • An average of 31 percent receive Pell Grants.
    • An average of 43 percent of undergraduates receive federal student loans.
  • The median earnings (of former students who received federal financial aid, 10 years after entry) is $49,350.
    • The median debt of completers is $19,500.

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C. Here is a list of the top 100 private 4-year schools based on their Monthly Liquidity Ratios (average monthly liquidity ratio of 16.5 to one for this data subset):

Rank School Ratio
1 Harvard University 119.3
2 Princeton University 84.3
3 Duke University 83.0
4 Stanford University 54.6
5 Rice University 54.3
6 California Institute of Technology 53.5
7 Wellesley College 51.0
8 Cornell University 48.6
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 48.3
10 Dartmouth College 45.9
11 Berea College 44.8
12 Yale University 43.7
13 Pomona College 42.6
14 Brigham Young University-Provo 42.2
15 University of Chicago 41.6
16 Brigham Young University-Hawaii 40.6
17 Georgetown University 40.1
18 Claremont McKenna College 39.9
19 Amherst College 39.1
20 Vanderbilt University 37.9
21 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 36.9
22 Boricua College 35.1
23 MCPHS University 34.1
24 Williams College 33.3
25 Johns Hopkins University 32.9
26 Haverford College 32.8
27 Grinnell College 32.2
28 Brown University 31.3
29 Colgate University 30.4
30 University of Pennsylvania 30.1
31 Tufts University 29.3
32 Hamilton College 29.1
33 University of the Sciences 28.8
34 Brigham Young University-Idaho 28.6
35 Boston College 28.5
36 Scripps College 28.2
37 Northwestern University 27.7
38 Barnard College 27.6
39 Washington and Lee University 27.5
40 Ranken Technical College 26.9
41 University of Notre Dame 26.8
42 Santa Clara University 26.8
43 Columbia University in the City of New York 26.5
44 Pima Medical Institute-Tucson 26.3
45 Babson College 26.1
46 Bates College 25.7
47 Davidson College 25.7
48 University of Southern California 25.6
49 Middlebury College 25.6
50 Emory University 25.4
51 Lehigh University 24.9
52 Washington University in St Louis 24.9
53 Stevens Institute of Technology 24.7
54 Carnegie Mellon University 24.5
55 University of Richmond 24.4
56 Southern California Institute of Technology 24.2
57 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 24.1
58 Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-San Francisco 24.0
59 Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-Los Angeles 24.0
60 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 23.9
61 Vassar College 23.9
62 Yeshiva University 23.9
63 Florida College 23.9
64 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 23.8
65 Mount Carmel College of Nursing 23.7
66 University of the Pacific 23.7
67 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 23.5
68 Kettering University 23.3
69 Bentley University 23.1
70 Bowdoin College 23.0
71 Case Western Reserve University 23.0
72 Carleton College 23.0
73 Pitzer College 22.8
74 Villanova University 22.8
75 Sarah Lawrence College 22.3
76 Lafayette College 22.2
77 Remington College-Dallas Campus 22.1
78 Colby College 22.1
79 Culinary Institute of America 22.1
80 Swarthmore College 21.8
81 Wake Forest University 21.8
82 Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences 21.6
83 Wesleyan University 21.4
84 Trinity College 21.2
85 Harvey Mudd College 21.0
86 George Washington University 20.9
87 Illinois Institute of Technology 20.8
88 DigiPen Institute of Technology 20.8
89 Bucknell University 20.8
90 Fairfield University 20.7
91 Dickinson College 20.6
92 University of Miami 20.6
93 Clarkson University 20.5
94 Remington College-Memphis Campus 20.5
95 New York University 20.5
96 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach 20.5
97 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott 20.5
98 Saint Joseph’s University 20.4
99 Whitman College 20.3
100 University of San Diego 20.3

Here are some interesting data we found with respect to the top 100 private 4-year school list:

  • All the Ivy Leagues made it to the list, and 5 of them are in the top 10.
  • 15 schools in New York, 14 schools in California, 12 schools in Pennsylvania, and 11 schools in Massachusetts made it to the list.
  • The average test scores are as follows:
    • SAT Verbal: 666.93
    • SAT Math: 688.22
    • SAT Writing: 675.33
    • ACT English: 30.75
    • ACT Math: 30.12
    • ACT Writing: 8.93
  • The average admission rate is as follows:
    • Top 10 Schools = 12%
    • Top 20 Schools = 16%
    • Top 30 Schools = 21%
    • Top 40 Schools = 24%
    • Top 50 Schools = 24%
    • Top 60 Schools = 26%
    • Top 70 Schools = 30%
    • Top 80 Schools = 31%
    • Top 90 Schools = 32%
    • Top 100 Schools = 35%
  • The average annual net price for federal financial aid recipients, after aid from the school, state, or federal government, is $25,614.
    • An average of 22 percent receive Pell Grants.
    • An average of 38 percent of undergraduates receive federal student loans.
  • The median earnings (of former students who received federal financial aid, 10 years after entry) is $60,500.
    • The median debt of completers is $18,175.

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