Colleges with the highest-paid grads

Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Mass.

Rank: 8 (tie)
Mid-career salary: $119,000
Starting salary: $55,300
% of grads who think their job is meaningful: 60%

The oldest college in the United States, Harvard's history and academic rigor make it one of the most respected schools in the world. Eight U.S. presidents have degrees from Harvard, as well as dozens of Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners and a slew famous politicians, artists and business people. That pedigree and the school's notoriously tough academic standards create high demand for its grads across a variety of fields.

First published October 23, 2013: 12:50 PM ET

Source: PayScale.com. Data used in the College Salary Report came from surveys completed by roughly 1.4 million college graduates of 1,016 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. Mid-career results were based on 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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