Colleges with the highest-paid grads

highest paid grads us military academy west point

Cadets train at the U.S. Military Academy's campus in West Point, N.Y.

Starting salary: $75,100
Mid-career salary: $123,900
% who think their job is meaningful: 57%

After West Point's cadets graduate, they must serve five years of active duty in the Army, which arms them with leadership experience that many employers say is invaluable.

The current CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and 7-Eleven, as well as AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey all graduated from West Point.

First published March 5, 2015: 1:12 PM ET

Source: Source: PayScale.com. Data used in the College Salary Report came from surveys completed by roughly 1.4 million college graduates of 1,002 colleges and universities, which represent 75% of all bachelor's degree recipients in the U.S. Graduates with advanced degrees were excluded from the results. Only full-time, civilian workers based in the 50 states and District of Columbia were counted. The ranking is based on mid-career results, which comes from median salaries of graduates with 10 years of work experience. Whether a job is meaningful is based on the percentage of graduates who answered "Very much so" and "Yes" to the question: "Does your work make the world a better place?"

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