There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which grad school to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
After analyzing 676 grad schools in the United States, we came up with our list of those that offered the best doctorate degree programs. Our ranking for the best grad schools is based on objective factors. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. The following gives more info on what goes into our ranking factors and why we consider those factors.
Higher Than Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving a doctorate degree from the school. While doctorate degree recipients from schools in the United States earn an average starting salary of $75,260, those from the top 21 school on this list made an average of $88,825.
Starting Salary ( 76631 to 107322 )
Taking Out Student Loans
Graduate students may also take on a lot of debt while working on their doctorate so we factor that into our rankings as well.
The average amount taken out in student loans for graduates at a particular school may be crippling for those who earn less than average wages after graduation.
More Ranking Factors That Are Important
We also analyze a number of other factors in addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt when coming up with our yearly Best Doctorate Degree Schools ranking.
On a broad level, other factors that go into our rankings include such things as the demand of the school, the student body caliber, if the school has online options, and the educational resources provided by the school.
If you'd rather work on your doctorate degree in a specific area of the country, you might be interested in our rankings by place. Also, you may want to check out our other college rankings.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops this year’s ranking as the best grad school for doctorate degrees in the United States for overall quality. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 568 students in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from MIT make an average of $115,303 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #2 in the United States on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Stanford is a private not-for-profit institution located in Stanford, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 1,105 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Stanford make an average of $98,295 a year.
A rank of #3 on our Best Doctorate Degrees in the United States list means University of Pennsylvania is a great place for students working on their degree. University of Pennsylvania is a large private not-for-profit school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that handed out 1,254 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UPenn make an average of $97,555 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Carnegie Mellon University. The school came in at #4 in the United States on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 333 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
Out of the 676 doctorate degree schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the #5 spot on the list. Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,444 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Harvard make an average of $95,158 per year during the early years of their career.
Princeton University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Princeton, New Jersey. It awarded 293 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Chicago ranked #7 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 755 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UChicago make an average of $96,200 per year during the early years of their career.
Rice University landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Houston, Texas is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 207 students in 2020-2021.
University of California - Berkeley did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #9. Located in Berkeley, California, the large public school handed out 1,187 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from UC Berkeley go into careers with an average salary of $88,876 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #10, Northwestern University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,028 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Northwestern make an average of $93,954 a year.
University of Southern California came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. USC is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,914 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $87,196 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, Yale University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in New Haven, Connecticut. It awarded 742 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Yale make an average of $91,187 per year during the early years of their career.
Duke University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #13. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Durham, North Carolina. It awarded 949 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Duke make an average of $92,967 a year.
With a ranking of #14, California Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. California Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in Pasadena, California that handed out 184 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Caltech is $59,996 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #15, Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the large public school handed out 577 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Vanderbilt University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 787 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Vanderbilt make an average of $91,182 per year during the early years of their career.
Georgetown University landed the #17 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 1,014 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Georgetown is $105,462 during the early years of their career.
Cornell University landed the #18 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Cornell is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 777 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Cornell go into careers with an average salary of $107,405 during the early years of their career.
Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #19. Columbia is a private not-for-profit institution located in New York, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,502 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $102,938 during the early years of their career.
Johns Hopkins University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Johns Hopkins is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Baltimore, Maryland. It awarded 726 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $76,111 during the early years of their career.
Suffolk University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #21. Suffolk University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 351 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $56,355 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #22, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the large public school awarded 1,562 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from U-M make an average of $91,977 a year.
Fielding Graduate University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Located in Santa Barbara, California, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 123 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $71,013 during the early years of their career.
Washington University in St Louis came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Saint Louis, Missouri that handed out 742 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from WUSTL is $72,507 during the early years of their career.
Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. West Lafayette, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate degrees to 1,034 students in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Purdue is $73,682 during the early years of their career.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
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