10 Highest Paying Computer Science Programs
Computer science majors from these 10 schools can expect to earn the most by the time they reach the middle of their careers, according to data from Payscale.com. See how your salary stacks up.
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Payscale.com released its 2015-16 College Salary Report on Aug. 26, and among the highlights of the report is the list of colleges with the highest paid alumni. This year, the list shows that the shipping industry is a good career choice, with alumni salaries for graduates of SUNY Maritime College outpacing top schools, such as Harvey Mudd and Harvard.
If you're more interested in working in tech than you are in sailing the high seas, we've extracted details on the colleges that offer the best earnings potential for computer science majors.
To compile its report, Payscale.com pulled median salary data from graduates of more than 1,500 US schools, including more than 1,000 institutions offering Bachelor degrees and more than 400 graduate schools. The average number of responses from each school was 325, and only schools deemed to have a statistically significant number of responses were considered in the report.
Payscale broke the median salary data down into "early career" (less than five years of experience) and "mid-career" (at least 10 years of experience). The salary results are not compiled according to specific jobs, but rather based on college majors.
Our list, based on the Payscale data, ranks the top 10 schools whose computer science alumni have the highest median mid-career salaries. While our list also shows the early-career salaries for each school, we opted not to use that information as our ranking criteria because recent graduates' earnings are often affected by geography and other outside influences. By mid-career, most of the noise has been filtered out.
Reporting on the median salaries of those who majored in computer science doesn't give us the full picture of what IT pros are earning, since many of you are not computer science majors. Still, it's a useful guide to what graduates from the top-earning schools are being paid now, and offers CIOs and other hiring managers insight into what they can expect to pay for IT talent.
[ Finding the right job involves more than playing with keywords. Read 10 IT Job Search Habits To Nail A New Gig. ]
Check out the list. You'll find at least two surprises, in my opinion, including the schools coming in at No. 4 and No. 1.
See how your salary stacks up against your fellow alumni, and against the computer science majors at rival schools. Use it for bragging rights around the watercooler. Share it with your HR department. Use it for hiring decisions. Or, if you're just starting out in IT, consult the list to help you find the best path to success.
If you don't see your school on our top 10 rankings, check out the complete Payscale list here. Show your school spirit in the comments section below.
Los Angeles, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $130,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $69,900
Acceptance Rate: 17.8%
Hayward, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $131,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $65,000
Acceptance Rate: 68.2%
Evanston, IL
Median Mid-Career Salary: $135,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $76,000
Acceptance Rate: 31.9%
Cambridge, MA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $135,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $95,100
Acceptance Rate: 7.9%
San Luis Obispo, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $137,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $74,100
Acceptance Rate: 34.5%
Stanford, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $137,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $96,200
Acceptance Rate: 5.1%
Newark, DE
Median Mid-Career Salary: $143,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $66,700
Acceptance Rate: 68%
New York, NY
Median Mid-Career Salary: $145,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $98,900
Acceptance Rate: 6.9%
Berkeley, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $145,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $96,400
Acceptance Rate: 18.1%
Santa Barbara, CA
Median Mid-Career Salary: $147,000
Median Early-Career Salary: $71,700
Acceptance Rate: 36.1%
Where does your alma mater rank on the list? If your school didn't land in our top 10, check out the full Payscale list here. And if you find you went to one of these schools and aren't maxing your salary potential, check out InformationWeek's IT Life for tips on achieving your best IT career, especially how to get a raise.
Where does your alma mater rank on the list? If your school didn't land in our top 10, check out the full Payscale list here. And if you find you went to one of these schools and aren't maxing your salary potential, check out InformationWeek's IT Life for tips on achieving your best IT career, especially how to get a raise.
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