2025 Best Colleges for Software Engineering

Academic Highlights: Impressively, particularly for a school with more graduate students than undergrads, CMU boasts a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio and small class sizes, with roughly one-third containing single digits and 68% having an enrollment of nineteen or fewer. In a given school year, 800+ undergraduates conduct research through the University Research Office, and many others participated through various outside arrangements. Between 500-600 students study abroad for a semester each year in such countries as Japan, China, and Germany.

Professional Outcomes: By the end of the calendar year in which they received their diplomas, 74% of recent grads were employed, and 17% were continuing to graduate school. The companies that have routinely scooped up CMU grads include Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, TikTok, and NVIDIA. With an average starting salary of $124,107, CMU grads outpace the average starting salary for a college grad nationally.

Academic Highlights: Undergraduates pursue one of 58 majors and 59 minors at this world-class research institution. The student-to-faculty ratio is an astonishing 3-to-1, and even with a substantial focus on graduate programs, the class sizes are intimate. Over two-fifths of all class sections have single-digit enrollments, and 66% of courses contain fewer than twenty students. MIT is known for having one of the best formalized undergraduate research programs in the country. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) operates year-round and helped connect 93%+ of students to a research experience with an MIT faculty member. Studying abroad is strongly encouraged; almost half participate.

Professional Outcomes: The Class of 2023 saw 49% of its members enter the world of employment and 43% continue on their educational paths. The top employers included Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Google, General Motors, the US Navy, Apple, Bain & Company, and McKinsey. The median starting salary for an MIT bachelor’s degree holder was $110,000. The most frequently attended graduate schools are a who’s who of elite institutions including MIT itself, Stanford, Cornell, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins.

Academic Highlights: A virtually unmatched 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio sets students up for a personalized classroom experience and an incredible amount of face time with some of the leaders in their respective fields. Sixty-nine percent of classes have fewer than twenty students, and 32% have a single-digit enrollment. Stanford puts immense resources behind undergraduate research; more than $6.5 million in grant funding is allocated each year to support roughly 1,100 student research projects. Close to 900 students study abroad annually through the Bing Overseas Studies Program in 12 international cities.

Professional Outcomes: Stanford grads entering the working world flock to three major industries: business development, engineering, and education. Among the companies employing the largest number of grads are Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, and OpenAI. A sizable number of newly minted Cardinals dive into the world of entrepreneurship. San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles were the top three US destinations for recent grads. Starting salaries for Stanford grads are among the highest in the country.

Academic Highlights: More than 150 undergraduate majors and minors are available across six schools. Undergrads will encounter a mix of large lectures (20% of sections contain more than 50 students) and tiny, single-digit enrollments in seminar-style courses (21% of sections contain nine or fewer students). Plenty of undergraduate research opportunities exist, with many facilitated by the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships; 48% of students participate in research during their time at Berkeley. Over 200 study abroad opportunities are available for those who desire them, and approximately 1,800 undergrads take advantage each year.

Professional Outcomes: Upon graduating, 53% of Cal’s Class of 2023 had already secured employment, and 17% were headed to graduate school. The median starting salary was $94,000 across all majors. Thousands of alumni can be found in the offices of Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, and 500+ Golden Bears are currently employed by NVIDIA and LinkedIn. The school is the number one all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers. For those continuing their education, most chose to stay at UC Berkeley, with Stanford, the University of Southern California, Columbia, and Harvard rounding out the top five grad school destinations.

Academic Highlights: Class sizes are not always as tiny as the school itself. While 60% of courses have an enrollment under 20, another 33% enroll between 20 and 39 students. Regardless, Mudd prides itself on offering graduate-level research opportunities and experiential learning to all undergrads. The college backs up its philosophical stance with cold, hard cash, allocating three million dollars annually to facilitate student-faculty research. Students can participate during the school year or during the Summer Undergraduate Research Program that entails 10 weeks of full-time laboratory work. It is not uncommon for participants to end up with their names on a patent.

Professional Outcomes: Fifty-three percent of the Class of 2023 planned on entering a job right after receiving their bachelor’s degree. The highest number of recent Harvey Mudd graduates are scooped up by the following companies (in order of representation): Microsoft, Amazon, Caltech, Ellison Institute of Technology, Google, Second Order Effects, and SpaceX. Graduates average an impressive $117,500 starting salary, a phenomenal number even when accounting for the preponderance of STEM majors. Many Harvey Mudd grads—28% in 2023—go directly into graduate school programs.

Academic Highlights: Across all six divisions at Caltech, there are 28 distinct majors. Possessing an absurdly favorable 3:1 student-to-faculty ratio, plenty of individualized attention is up for grabs. Class sizes are not quite as tiny as the student-to-faculty ratio might suggest, but 66% of courses enroll fewer than twenty students, and 28% enroll fewer than ten. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) enjoy wide participation with 90% of undergraduates partaking, and 20% of that group going on to publish their results.

Professional Outcomes: Caltech is a rare school that sees six-figure average starting salaries for its graduates; in 2023, the median base salary range was 110k-119k. Forty-four percent of recent grads went directly into the workforce and found homes at tech giants such as Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta. A healthy 43% of those receiving their diplomas in 2023 continued directly on the higher education path, immediately entering graduate school. Seventy-four percent of these students were admitted to their top-choice school.

Academic Highlights: There are 140+ undergraduate majors offered at UCSD, and all students join one of eight undergraduate colleges meant to forge flourishing communities within the larger university. While 26% of course sections are held in larger lecture halls and contain 50+ students, 42% of undergraduate courses sport an enrollment under 20. Twenty percent of undergrads assist faculty with at least one research project during their time at the university; Roughly one-third of undergraduate study abroad per year, and over 400 opportunities in 40+ countries are available for those who desire a semester of study outside of the United States.

Professional Outcomes: Employers of recent graduates included Amazon, Boeing, EY, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, Qualcomm, and Tesla. More than 1,000 current Google employees are UC San Diego alumni, and Apple, Meta, and Microsoft all employ 500+ each. The median early career salary is $70,000 across all majors, placing the university in the top 10 public universities in the country. UCSD also fares well in measures of its return-on-investment potential.

Academic Highlights: Being a large research university, the student-to-faculty ratio is a less-than-ideal 18:1, leading to some larger undergraduate class sections. In fact, 51% of courses had enrollments of more than thirty students in 2023. On the other end of the spectrum, 9% of sections had single-digit enrollments. While not all of your professors will know you by name, there are plenty of ways that motivated students can strike up meaningful faculty-student relationships, with nearly 50% collaborating on research with professors at some point during their undergraduate career. Fifty-two percent of Tech students have gone abroad by the time they graduate, with a growing number electing to complete internships in a foreign land rather than academic coursework. In a given year, 130+ undergraduate students participate in a global internship.

Professional Outcomes: More than three-quarters of recent grads had already procured employment by the time they were handed their diplomas. You will find graduates at every major technology company in the world. Recent employers include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Capital One, and Apple. The median salary of the Class of 2023 was $84,000, with recent grads settling mostly in the Atlanta metro area. The next three most popular destinations are San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, DC.

Academic Highlights: An absurdly low 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio does, as you might expect, translate to tiny class sizes for undergraduates. Just under three-quarters of class sections have an enrollment of 19 or fewer students, and 32% have fewer than ten students. Princeton is known for its commitment to undergraduate teaching, and students consistently rate professors as accessible and helpful. The Office of Undergraduate Research assists Tigers in locating faculty members with whom they can jointly conduct research in the summer or during a regular term. More than four hundred study abroad programs, internships, and experiences are available in over 140 countries; 61% of students ultimately engage in at least one international experience.

Professional Highlights: Over 93% of a typical Tiger class has found their next destination within six months of graduating. Companies presently employing hundreds of Tiger alumni include Google, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, IBM, and Meta. The average salary reported by 2023 graduates was $89k across all majors. Between 15-20% of graduating Tigers head directly to graduate/professional school. Tigers typically choose equally prestigious graduate schools to attend. Members of one recent class flocked in the largest numbers to Stanford, Penn, Princeton, Harvard, Cambridge, Columbia, and Oxford in that order.

Academic Highlights: Classes are a bit larger at Cornell than at many other elite institutions. Still, 54% of sections have fewer than 20 students. Introductory courses sometimes take place in larger lecture halls, so 24% of courses have an enrollment of more than forty students. Undergraduates do give their professors generally high marks: 88% report being satisfied with the instruction they have received, 48% report completing a thesis/research project, and 53% conducted research with a faculty member. Members of Big Red can choose from study abroad opportunities in more than forty countries, and roughly one-third participate.

Professional Outcomes: Breaking down the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school at Cornell, 63% entered the workforce, 26% entered graduate school, 2% pursued other endeavors such as travel or volunteer work, and the remaining 4% were still seeking employment six months after receiving their diplomas. Graduates earned a median salary of $85,000. Of the students from A&S going on to graduate school, 13% pursued JDs, 4% MDs, and 25% PhDs. Popular destinations included staying at Cornell, other Ivies, Stanford, MIT, universities in the UC system, or abroad at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Toronto, or the University of St. Andrews

Academic Highlights: Eight of UIUC’s fifteen schools cater to undergraduate students. Illinois’ student-to-faculty ratio of 20:1 is high even for a public institution, but the school still manages to keep 39% of sections capped at 19 students. Further, 40% of undergraduates participate in research; over 800 students each year present at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Unique opportunities for experiential learning abound at Research Park, an on-campus technology hub and business incubator that hosts more than 120 major corporations and 800 student interns.

Professional Outcomes: 91% of recent UIUC grads landed at their next destination within six months of graduation, with 35% matriculating directly into an advanced degree program. 56% were employed full-time. Corporations landing the most recent Illinois grads were Amazon, Deloitte, Epic, KPMG, and PwC. The average salary across all majors was an extremely solid $76,000. Two-thirds of graduates remained in the Land of Lincoln; California and New York commandeer the next greatest percentages of migrating alumni.

Academic Highlights: Classes are a bit larger at Cornell than at many other elite institutions. Still, 54% of sections have fewer than 20 students. Introductory courses sometimes take place in larger lecture halls, so 24% of courses have an enrollment of more than forty students. Undergraduates do give their professors generally high marks: 88% report being satisfied with the instruction they have received, 48% report completing a thesis/research project, and 53% conducted research with a faculty member. Members of Big Red can choose from study abroad opportunities in more than forty countries, and roughly one-third participate.

Professional Outcomes: Breaking down the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school at Cornell, 63% entered the workforce, 26% entered graduate school, 2% pursued other endeavors such as travel or volunteer work, and the remaining 4% were still seeking employment six months after receiving their diplomas. Graduates earned a median salary of $85,000. Of the students from A&S going on to graduate school, 13% pursued JDs, 4% MDs, and 25% PhDs. Popular destinations included staying at Cornell, other Ivies, Stanford, MIT, universities in the UC system, or abroad at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Toronto, or the University of St. Andrews

Academic Highlights: 180+ undergraduate majors are offered across twelve colleges/schools. Twenty-six percent of sections contain 50 or more students compared to 29% of sections that contain fewer than 20. Still, there are opportunities for personal connections with professors as evidenced by the fact that 80% of graduates complete research during their four years at UW. The study abroad rate of participation has climbed steadily since the turn of the millennium; 3,000 students each year spend a semester in a foreign locale.

Professional Outcomes: Within months of graduation, 62% of Class of 2023 grads were employed and 24% were continuing their education. The most popular employers of the Class of 2023 included Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Seattle Children’s, and Deloitte. Across all living alumni, 6,000+ work for Microsoft, and 4000+ work for each of Boeing and Amazon. Of those headed to graduate/professional school, most remain at UW itself. Large numbers of 2023 grads also headed to Columbia, UPenn, USC, and Johns Hopkins.

Academic Highlights: Students must choose one of 80+ “concentration programs,” but there are no required courses. In essence, the guiding philosophy is that students should take control of their learning, pursue knowledge in areas that they are truly passionate about, and learn to integrate and synthesize information across disciplines. Class sizes tend to be small—67% have fewer than twenty students—and 32% are comprised of nine or fewer students. Student surveys reveal an unsurpassed level of satisfaction with the quality of instruction and professor availability. Undergraduates give favorable reviews in those areas at an overwhelming 92-97% clip.

Professional Outcomes: Soon after receiving their Brown diplomas, 63% of graduates enter the world of employment. Companies employing the greatest number of Brown alums include Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, Apple, McKinsey & Company, and Meta. 33% of recent graduates go directly into graduate/professional school. Alums tend to settle in major American cities, with most living in New York (44%) and Boston (18%).

Academic Highlights: UT Austin offers over 170 majors. Sn encouraging 36% of course sections enroll nineteen or fewer students. Opportunities for undergraduate research vary by school, and many student must compete for slots in programs such as Summer Research Scholars or use the Eureka database to find individual professors offering research assistantships. A robust study abroad program boasts 400 offerings in 100+ foreign countries; 4,600+ students participate each year, the third-largest number in the country.

Professional Outcomes:  Over 1000 alumni work in the offices of Dell, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Deloitte; IBM, Meta, Oracle, and AMD employ over 500 each. Graduates early in their careers earn a median salary of $77,400, with median mid-career pay reaching $141,100. Roughly one-quarter of University of Texas at Austin undergraduates go on to pursue advanced degrees after completing their bachelor’s. Many pursue advanced study at UT Austin itself, which offers more than one hundred graduate programs. Many alumni stay in Texas after graduation, settling in Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Academic Highlights: Purdue offers over 200 majors at ten discipline-specific colleges, and 37% of course sections have an enrollment of 19 or fewer. Undergraduates conduct more than 2,000 research projects per year; they can connect with professors during the academic year or apply to participate in a Summer Research Fellowship. Discipline-specific research programs, a research pitch competition, research conferences & symposiums, and publishing opportunities abound. 1,300 students per year elect to study abroad at one of 400 programs in 50 countries.

Professional Outcomes: Shortly after receiving their diplomas, 65% of 2023 grads headed to the world of employment while 25% headed to graduate/professional school. Companies employing the greatest number of recent alumni were Eli Lilly & Company, Amazon, Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, PepsiCo, and Cummins, Inc. The average starting salary was $71k across all degree programs. The majority of alumni remain in Indiana with Illinois, California, Texas, New York, and Wisconsin rounding out the five next most common destinations.

Academic Highlights: Aided by a favorable 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school does an excellent job facilitating undergraduate research opportunities. Each school/college has a course entitled Directed Research 490 in which students work closely with a faculty supervisor and earn between two and eight credits, countless other opportunities exist to get one’s hands dirty in academic research. Each department has its own slate of study abroad offerings and Maymester programs, which are short-term intensive courses held stateside and abroad.

Professional Outcomes: 93% of undergrads experience positive postgraduation outcomes within six months of earning their degree. The median salary across all majors is an astounding $85k. Presently, between 500 and 2,500 alumni are employed at each of Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA, and Oracle. Graduate/professional schools enrolling the greatest number of 2023 USC grads include Columbia, UCLA, Pepperdine, and Harvard, with most remaining at USC for their advanced studies.

Academic Highlights: Over 100 majors are offered across eight undergraduate colleges. You will encounter a number of smaller sections during your time at UMass as 47% of courses enroll fewer than 20 students; a stunning 96% of graduates report being satisfied with their academic experience. Further, a substantial and encouraging 30% report engaging in some type of undergraduate research. For a large university, UMass also enjoys fairly wide participation in its study abroad program. Every year, 1,200 students spend a semester in one of 56 countries.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduating, 62% of newly minted 2023 grads were employed full-time and 24% were attending graduate school part-time. Companies presently employing 100+ Minutemen and Minutewomen include Fidelity, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, and Salesforce. Boston is the most popular landing spot for graduates. Boston is the most popular landing spot for graduates; it’s followed by Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York City.

Academic Highlights: NC State offers more than 100 majors and 120 minors. Thanks to a reasonable 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, you won’t exclusively have classes in enormous lecture halls. Rather, NC State offers its undergraduates a mix of experiences with 63% of sections enrolling 29 or fewer students and 18% enrolling 50 or more. The Office of Undergraduate Research works diligently to connect star students to faculty research projects, which leads to nearly 500 student presentations at the spring poster sessions alone. In 2024, 28 students received invitations to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

Professional Outcomes: Forty-four percent of students graduating in 2023 had already accepted full-time jobs before exiting; 30% were heading to graduate/professional school. Members of that class reported an average starting salary of $65,589 (with a slightly higher median). Including all graduating years, the companies employing the largest number of alumni are Cisco, SAS, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Lenovo, Apple, Meta, and NVIDIA. Many recent grads also work for the university itself.

Academic Highlights: Close to half of classrooms contain fewer than twenty Bruins, but those taking introductory courses will find themselves in a fair number of lecture halls with a hundred or more students. Professors are given impressively high marks for a research university of UCLA’s size. 93% of College of Letters and Science seniors rate their professors as being intellectually challenging. By the time they graduate, 45% of undergraduates have participated in a research experience. Every year, roughly one-quarter of the undergraduate population elects to study abroad, a sharp increase from only a few years ago. UCLA has 115 partner universities in 40+ countries around the globe.

Professional Outcomes: Thousands of alumni can be found working at Google, Amazon, and Apple. Companies that employ over 100 Bruins each include Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, TikTok, NVIDIA, and LinkedIn. Ultimately, one-third of UCLA grads go on to enroll in graduate/professional school, with many choosing to stay at their alma mater. Otherwise, the most attended grad schools are primarily other excellent California-based institutions including Stanford, USC, and Berkeley. For graduates early in their careers, the median salary is $78,600, with mid-career median earnings reaching over $149k. Many alumni remain in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area after graduating; other popular destinations include the San Francisco Bay area and New York City.

Academic Highlights: Eight undergraduate colleges that offer 150+ distinct majors are housed within Virginia Tech. 34% of sections contain fewer than 20 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 13:1. Overall, 19% of recent graduates report participating in some type of undergraduate research experience, but landing such opportunities is much easier for members of the Honors College. Each year, more than 1,200 students avail themselves of the chance to study abroad in locations such as Switzerland, New Zealand, France, and Scotland.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 37% of the Class of 2023 were employed and 14% were in graduate school. Graduates work at major corporations including Deloitte, EY, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Kimley-Horn, Northrop Grumman, and Accenture. The median salary for 2023 graduates was $70,000. Among recent grads who decided to pursue an advanced degree, the greatest number stayed at VT, while others enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, George Washington University, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, and Johns Hopkins.

Academic Highlights: Undergrads can study within one of eight colleges/schools, which all offer many small classes; 14% boast single-digit enrollment and 48% contain 19 or fewer students. Undergraduate research opportunities can be challenging to uncover at any large school where graduate students get the prime spots, yet, UVA does offer a multitude of formal opportunities as well as the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and three undergraduate research journals. The classroom at UVA extends well beyond Charlottesville as one-fifth enjoy a semester abroad through one of fifty programs around the world.

Professional Outcomes: Upon receiving their degree, 86% of the Class of 2023 immediately joined the workforce–with an average starting salary of $82k–or headed directly to graduate school.  Capital One (58), Amazon (45), Deloitte (41), and Accenture (34) scooped up the greatest number of 2023 grads. UVA itself was the most popular grad school destination followed by Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Duke.

Academic Highlights: The academic experience at Columbia is driven by the famed Core Curriculum that lays out an extensive to-do list that includes highly specified courses rather than categorical requirements. Class sizes at Columbia are reasonably small and the student-to-faculty ratio is favorable; however, in 2022, it was revealed that the university had been submitting faulty data in this area. It is presently believed that 59% of undergraduate courses enroll 19 or fewer students. More than 570 students per year participate in the Columbia Overseas Program. A little over one-quarter of the students leave Manhattan for a foreign country during their four years of study. Undergraduate research is taken seriously by the university, which offers multiple avenues through which students can work side-by-side with faculty on their projects or pursue funding for their own original research ideas.

Professional Outcomes: The companies hiring the largest number of Lions in 2023 were among the most desirable employers in the world including Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Google, Citi, McKinsey, and Microsoft. Those moving on to graduate/professional school were welcomed in large numbers into other universities of Columbia’s ilk. In addition to remaining at Columbia (the most popular choice), the top ten institutions attended were Stanford, Harvard, NYU, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Oxford, Princeton, and MIT.

Academic Highlights: UCI offers over eighty undergrad programs as well as many opportunities for personal connection; 54% of all sections enroll 19 or fewer students and over 70% of students participate in undergraduate research. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program helps students with proposal writing, developing research plans, and presenting their results at the annual spring UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium and/or publishing their results in the UCI Undergraduate Research Journal.

Professional Outcomes: Companies employing large numbers of recent grads include Amazon, Deloitte, Northrop Grumman, Ernst & Young, and PwC. Hundreds of alumni are also found at Google, Microsoft, and Meta. The median salary is $70,000, with School of Information and Computer Sciences grads earning $117k right off the bat. 38% of graduates enroll in graduate school, with many choosing to remain at UC Irvine. The majority pursue master’s degrees (89%), with the remainder enrolling in doctorate programs.

Academics: While class sizes aren’t small, 31% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students, and 67% of classes are kept under fifty students. There are numerous opportunities for undergraduate research through programs like the McNair Scholars Program, the Biology Undergraduate Research Program, and the Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowship. All in all, 50% of Aggies engage in some type of research/creative project outside the classroom, and over 700 present at the annual undergraduate research conference.

Professional Outcomes: Many recent grads found homes in Silicon Valley or other California-based employers. Corporations employing 200 or more Aggies include Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, LinkedIn, and Tesla. Graduates earn a median salary of $79,000 at the beginning of their careers, but ten years out of school, median earnings rise to $147k. Most Aggies reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Sacramento, Davis, and Los Angeles proving popular with graduates as well.

Academic Highlights: Mason aims to make every one of its graduates an “engaged citizen and well-rounded scholar who is prepared to act.” Toward that goal, it requires a journey through the “Mason Core,” a forty-three-credit collection of foundation, exploration, and integration requirements. Thirty-two percent of sections enroll nineteen or fewer students, 14% have fifty or more students, and the remaining sections lie in between. More intimate educational experiences can be sought in the form of undergraduate research, which roughly half of all students ultimately engage in some form. There are plenty of summer research opportunities, but you can also take courses designated as Discovery of Scholarship, Scholarly Inquiry, or Research & Scholarship Intensive that offer built-in supervised research.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after receiving their degrees, 87% of the class of 2023 had accepted a job offer or started work in a graduate program. GMU grads flow into major consulting firms like Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, and Accenture, as well as Capital One, Goldman Sachs, General Dynamics, IBM, and Microsoft. Mason graduates earn a median salary of $74,000, with 83% of grads employed in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC.

About: The University Honors Program focuses on personal, professional, and intellectual development through layering high-impact experiences. The central goal of an Honors education at Texas A&M is to provide students who thrive on challenge and enrichment the opportunity to realize their full potential of personal, professional, and intellectual growth. Benefits include close contact with accomplished faculty, collaborative learning with other motivated students, small, discussion-based seminars and/or one-on-one instruction, knowledge production through individual research experiences, and engagement with internships, study abroad, and campus or community service.

Professional Outcomes: On graduation day, 77% of the Class of 2024 had either already received a job offer or were pursuing further education.  Many Aggies go on to work at major oil, tech, and consulting firms; more than 1000 are employed at each of ExxonMobil, Amazon, and Deloitte. Starting salaries were strong — the median salary for the Class of 2025 was $75k. (That being said, salary variation between majors is high: students majoring in petroleum engineering averaged $99k per year, while kinesiology majors averaged just over $44k.)

Academic Highlights: There are 280+ undergraduate degree programs across fourteen schools and colleges. Michigan sports a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and 18% of classes contain 50 or more students, but a solid 53% of classes offer a more intimate experience with fewer than 20 students. The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program draws in 1,300 participants each year who partner with 800+ research mentors. For students in all academic programs at Michigan, study abroad opportunities are taken advantage of at high rates. In fact, the university is second in the nation in the number of students it sends to study in foreign lands.

Professional Outcomes: Within three months of graduating, 89% of LSA grads are employed full-time or in graduate school. The median salary across all majors is approximately 70k. Top employers include PwC, EY, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Citi, Bank of America, and Capital One.  Within six months, 93% of engineering grads are employed (average salary of $99k) or in grad school. General Motors, Ford, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft employ the greatest number of alumni.

Academic Highlights: Northeastern offers 130 majors and 199 combined majors within nine colleges and programs. Nearly two-thirds of Husky classrooms contain nineteen or fewer students, and 13% have single-digit enrollments. Large lecture hall courses crammed with undergrads are rare at this school—only 7% of sections sport a student enrollment of fifty or more. Since 2006, Northeastern has added an incredible 650+ tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Undergraduate research opportunities exist in all departments, and experiential learning of some type is had by virtually all graduates, thanks to the school’s illustrious and robust co-op program. In a given year, 3,700+ students have a global experience in one of 65+ countries, and 250+ students participate in a co-op program overseas.

Professional Outcomes: Nine months after leaving Northeastern, 97% of students have landed at their next employment or graduate school destination. Huskies entering the job market are quickly rounded up by the likes of Amazon, Fidelity Investments, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, all of whom employ 500+ Northeastern alums. Between 200 and 500 employees at Meta, CVS Health, Goldman Sachs, and Tesla have an NU lineage. Starting salaries are above average (70% make more than $70k), in part due to the stellar co-op program.

Academic Highlights: The student-to-faculty ratio at UC Santa Barbara is a decent 17:1, and the school does an excellent job of keeping undergraduate class sizes on the small side. In fact, more than half of sections contain fewer than 20 students, and 72% enroll 29 or fewer. Undergraduate research opportunities definitely exist for those willing to forge relationships with faculty outside the classroom. A solid 63% of graduates report engaging in some type of faculty-guided research. It’s not as easy to inspire Gauchos to leave their campus paradise for a semester in a foreign land—only around 20% of students participate in study abroad.

Professional Outcomes:  Over 500 UC Santa Barbara alumni currently work at Google, Apple, and Amazon, while Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, AppFolio, and NVIDIA each employ 100+. Early in their career, UCSB alumni make a median salary of $75k; by mid-career, they earn a median income of $152k. Most graduates settle in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, followed by the San Francisco Bay area, and the San Diego metropolitan area.