There are plenty of reasons to attend an Ivy League institution if you’re one of the lucky students to be admitted. The eight famed colleges consistently earn top honors on various rankings, based on factors like academics and career outcomes.
Attending an Ivy may also help you earn a high salary. The University of Pennsylvania in particular reports the highest median incomes among former attendees who received federal aid. Data shows 10 years after starting at Penn, federal aid recipients earn a median salary of $103,246 annually.
Plus, Forbes’s 2022 list of the 400 richest people in America featured 17 Penn graduates — and only 11 each from Harvard and Yale.
Even those who don’t make it to the highest echelon of wealth may be able to expect a decent salary after attending an Ivy League school. Former Ivy League attendees who received federal aid earn a median of about $90,500 a decade after starting school, according to Department of Education (ED) data.
To help prospective students make informed decisions about where to attend college, ED publishes college scorecards showing data related to tuition, costs and outcomes for students who received federal student aid, including post-attendance earnings and debt upon completion.
Seeing what a school’s former attendees earn after leaving school can give you an idea of the value of that institution’s education and help you determine if it’s worth the cost.
Here’s a look at all eight Ivy League schools, ranked by median earnings among federal aid recipients.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $103,246
Average annual cost: $25,046
Median debt at graduation: $16,763
2. Princeton University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $95,689
Average annual cost: $9,836
Median debt at graduation: $10,450
3. Dartmouth College
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $91,627
Average annual cost: $32,410
Median debt at graduation: $17,000
4. Cornell University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $91,176
Average annual cost: $37,042
Median debt at graduation: $14,500
5. Columbia University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $89,871
Average annual cost: $22,823
Median debt at graduation: $21,500
6. Yale University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $88,655
Average annual cost: $15,296
Median debt at graduation: $13,142
7. Harvard University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $84,918
Average annual cost: $13,872
Median debt at graduation: $12,665
8. Brown University
Median earnings 10 years after attendance: $78,943
Average annual cost: $29,544
Median debt at graduation: $13,000
This data includes anyone who attended the school and received federal aid, regardless of whether they graduated, so these figures could be even higher for those with degrees.
While Penn is the only Ivy with median earnings in the six figures, the other schools report decent median salaries at the 10-year mark — and several cost less than Penn. Students pay the least on average to attend Princeton at $9,836 a year, and graduate with the least debt with a median $10,450 owed at graduation.
Cornell costs students the most, with federal aid recipients paying an average of $37,042 per year to attend. But Columbia leaves students with the most debt at graduation — a median of $21,500 in loans.
