Rowdy the River Hawk

10/31/2015
Business Insider
By Tanza Loudenback

We often hear about the best colleges in the US, but there are dozens more outstanding schools that don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

To discover the most underrated colleges in America, we compared U.S. News’ rankings of the best universities and the best liberal arts colleges in the country with PayScale’s 2015-2016 College Salary Report, which ranked more than 1,000 colleges and universities based on their graduates’ mid-career salaries.

We considered two factors: reputation and future earnings, specifically looking for schools that had relatively low rankings on the U.S. News list but high mid-career salaries. You can read the full methodology here.

Pace University topped the list, with Missouri University of Science and Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology rounding out the top three. 

Scroll down to learn more about the 50 most underrated colleges in America.

50. University of Dayton

49. Oklahoma State University

48. University of St. Thomas

47. Texas A&M University

46. San Diego State University

45. Westmont College

44. Auburn University

43. Rutgers University at Newark

42. New Mexico State University

41. The Catholic University of America


40. West Virginia University

39. Oregon State University

38. Stony Brook University at the State University of New York

37. Worcester Polytechnic Institute

36. Drexel University

35. Saint Anselm College

34. University of Missouri at Kansas City

33. Wittenberg University

32. University of Maryland at Baltimore County

31. The New School

30. Seton Hall University

29. Hartwick College

28. Washington State University

27. University of Colorado at Denver

26. University of San Francisco

25. Colorado School of Mines

24. University of Rhode Island

23. University of the Pacific

22. Virginia Military Institute

21. University of California at Riverside

20. University of Idaho

19. Stevens Institute of Technology

18. Stonehill College

17. Reed College

16. George Mason University

15. Illinois Institute of Technology

14. University of Houston

13. Texas Tech University

12. St. John’s University

11. Michigan Technological University

10. Widener University

9. Florida Institute of Technology

8. Clarkson University

7. University of Alabama in Huntsville

6. Louisiana Tech University

5. Hofstra University

4. University of Massachusetts Lowell

3. New Jersey Institute of Technology

2. Missouri University of Science and Technology

1. Pace University