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Graduates From These 16 Colleges Have the Highest-Paying Tech Salaries

Explore the colleges that consistently produce tech graduates with sky-high salaries.

By Laura Gesualdi-Gilmore

Edited by Jessica Gibson

Updated Nov. 27, 2025

There are many ways to land a well-paying job in the tech industry. This includes attending a college known for producing high earners in fields such as computer science, engineering, and web development.

But which ones are the most promising for graduates to get ahead financially and land the best jobs?

We looked at research from Burning Glass Institute, a nonprofit that studies employment trends, to find the best colleges for students hoping to land lucrative tech jobs.

Here are the 16 top colleges helping graduates get the highest-paying tech jobs.

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Stanford University

Interestingly (but perhaps not surprisingly), many of the top schools on this list are in California. Chief amongst those, possibly, is Stanford University, which will prevent tech graduates from needing to get out of debt with high potential salaries.

Stanford, a private university in the San Francisco Peninsula, took the top spot across both private and public schools in California. The average annual salary for a Stanford grad is $164,729.

According to salary data analyzed by the institute, Stanford grads make an average of more than $42,637 a year above the median salary of tech workers with bachelor's degrees ($122,000) in the decade after graduation.

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Harvard University

Harvard was just a little ahead of Stanford in average salaries for its tech grads. Harvard grads in tech fields earn an average of $167,111 annually.

However, a far smaller percentage of students at Harvard are graduating with degrees in tech fields, just 6.4% of graduates as opposed to Stanford's 12.6%.

Still, Harvard tends to churn out well-paid workers, with tech graduates from the Massachusetts Ivy earning about $45,019 more on average than the typical tech worker.

Princeton University

Another Ivy League school takes one of the top spots for high-earning tech grads. Princeton, in New Jersey, was just below Harvard in average salaries.

Tech graduates at the school, who make up 8.9% of all grads, earn $43,405 above the national average annually. Princeton's tech grads make an average of $165,497 a year.

Brown University

Another Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown is also on the list for top-earning tech grads. On average, Brown graduates working in tech industries make about $37,253 more than the median.

According to the data, about 7.4% of the school's graduates studied in tech fields, and these workers earn average salaries of around $159,345 annually.

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Yale University

Yale is the last Ivy League on this list, rounding out the top five. Tech grads from the New Haven, Connecticut, school make $39,064 above the national average annually.

The school also has the smallest percentage of tech grads on the list, with just 5.6% of its annual graduates majoring in tech-related fields.

However, these alumni still make good money; annual salaries average $161,156.

California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology has a larger percentage of tech graduates than any other school on this list, with 25.6% of students graduating with tech-related degrees.

This could be because Caltech, located in Pasadena, touts itself as a "world-renowned science and engineering institute" and offers many programs to back that up.

Graduates earn $40,868 over the average annual salary, around $162,960 a year.

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Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is next on the list, and, like Caltech, a large portion of students graduating from the college (21.4%) earn tech degrees.

Carnegie Mellon touts its graduates' success in the start-up world, noting that over the past decade, more than 400 startups affiliated with the school have raised over $7 billion in funding.

The school's tech grads earn $31,869 more than the national average, with average salaries of $153,961.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the final private school on this list.

Located in Cambridge and known for its competitive engineering and physical sciences programs, the school also has many tech graduates (18.7% of all grads).

MIT grads make an average of $31,626 more than other tech graduates and have an average annual salary of around $153,718.

University of California, Berkeley

Jumping to public colleges, the University of California, Berkeley, tops the list for top-earning graduates.

In fact, Berkeley tech grads, who make up 12.9% of the school's graduates, out-earn MIT grads each year, according to Burning Glass Institute data.

The school's tech grads earn $32,781 above the national average annually, with salaries around $154,873.

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University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has a smaller percentage of tech graduates than many other schools on this list (7.7%); however, these graduates tend to make very good money.

Tech school graduates earn $18,567 more than the national average, bringing their salaries to $140,659 per year.

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California has a smaller percentage of tech grads than UC Berkeley, and the other two UC schools you'll see later on this list, at only 7.3%.

UC Los Angeles tech grads still tend to earn significantly higher than most, at $22,640 above the national average annually. The average salary for the school's tech grads is $144,732.

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign's tech grads (8.2% of all graduates) earn about $15,741 more than the national average each year.

Several of the school's engineering programs have earned top rankings in U.S. News & World Report's annual college reports. Tech grads from the school earn $137,833 annually.

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University of Washington, Seattle

Rounding out the top five for public schools is the University of Washington's Seattle campus.

On one of the University of Washington's three campuses, the school is the least expensive on this list (taking tuition and fees into account).

The school offers many tech programs, with 11.4% of graduates getting tech-related degrees. These grads make an average of $20,511 over the national median, about $142,603 annually.

University of California, San Diego

The third UC school to land in the top 10, UC San Diego is also known to produce top-earning tech grads.

The school's tech students, about 11.3% of all grads, out earn the median by $16,335 on average, earning around $138,427 annually.

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

California Polytechnic, also known as Cal Poly, is located between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California's Central Coast in San Luis Obispo.

The school boasts a unique "Learn by Doing" approach to teaching, and about 9.7% of its annual graduates leave with tech-related degrees.

Grads can earn $18,383 more than the national average annually, with an annual salary of around $140,475.

University of California, Davis

Located in northern California, UC Davis is the final UC school on this list.

Not far behind Cal Poly when it comes to earnings, tech grads from the school tend to make $15,928 more than the national median.

On average, tech alums from the school, who make up 7.3% of grads, earn around $138,020 annually. Going here could go a long way in helping you to prepare yourself financially for the future.

Bottom line

Clearly, and not surprisingly, given the industry in the state, California is the place to study if you're hoping to boost your bank account with a high-paying job in the tech industry.

However, it's not the only state churning out well-paid grads. Aspiring students and their families should crunch the numbers, like tuition vs. what the average grad earns, to make the best college decisions.

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