Some of the highest-earning college graduates in the US may not have a Harvard degree hanging on the wall.
In a recent Business Insider ranking of US colleges with the highest-earning graduates, a small Bay Area school focused on health sciences outperformed Stanford and Harvard, as well as the rest of the Ivy League schools.
Meet Samuel Merritt University, a nursing and health-focused private nonprofit university in Oakland, California, with fewer than 1,000 undergraduate students.
Graduates from the university have a median income of $148,182 four years after graduation, ranking third in the country for graduate pay according to the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard, which measures the yearly post-graduation earnings of students who received federal aid such as student loans or work-study grants.
Student life is more like that of a small-city college than a large-campus college town
Samuel Merritt University doesn’t offer on-campus housing and instead partners with local properties to provide discounted housing rates for students. It also has a food pantry that students can access.
While the student experience is different from that at larger colleges, students praise the sense of community and diversity the school offers.
“My peers are not only dedicated to their own growth but also collaborative and supportive, which has created an environment where I feel encouraged and motivated to do my best,” a senior student wrote on Niche.
Students in the school’s primary nursing bachelor’s program take on an average of $20,000 in federal student loan debt and have post-graduation earnings comparable to those of graduates with a liberal arts and sciences degree from MIT, which ranked first in the nation for graduate pay across all disciplines.
The school combines high-earning professions with a high-earning location
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Since Samuel Merritt University has a strong focus on nursing and other related healthcare professions, it helps boost its earnings ranking.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses earned an average of $101,420 nationwide in 2025. In California, the average was $150,280, the highest of any US state.
Beyond the school’s focus on healthcare, its prime location in the Bay Area contributes to its graduates’ high earnings.
With some of the highest costs of living in the nation, the Bay Area also has some of the highest incomes in the US.
In the San Francisco metro area, households have a median annual income of $135,590, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. The metro area has the highest median household income among the 25 most populous US metro areas.
Samuel Merritt’s health sciences focus, and its graduates’ strong presence in California’s high-wage healthcare market, likely help explain why its federally aided graduates report higher median earnings than those from some Ivy League schools.
