{
  "id": 4889533,
  "title": "Graduates of a small West Coast college are earning more than Harvard and Stanford alums. Here's why.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/graduates-of-a-small-west-coast-college-are-earning-more-than-harvard",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-01T15:57:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/west-coast-nursing-school-harvard-stanford-graduate-pay"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A small California nursing school, Samuel Merritt University, has recently outperformed Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Stanford in terms of graduate earnings, according to a recent Business Insider ranking. The small Bay Area college, with fewer than 1,000 undergraduate students, boasts a median income of $148,182 for its graduates four years after graduation, ranking third in the country. This is despite the fact that Samuel Merritt does not offer on-campus housing and instead partners with local properties for discounted rates, and that it lacks some of the amenities of larger colleges. Despite the different student experience, students at Samuel Merritt praise the sense of community and diversity offered by the school. The university's high earnings ranking can be attributed to its strong focus on nursing and other healthcare professions, as well as its prime location in the Bay Area, which has some of the highest median incomes in the US. The average debt for students in Samuel Merritt's primary nursing bachelor's program is around $20,000, but their post-graduation earnings are comparable to those of graduates from prestigious institutions like MIT, which topped the nation for graduate pay across all disciplines.",
  "summary": "Samuel Merritt University, a small college in the Bay Area, has some of America's highest-earning graduates — thanks to its focus and location.",
  "key_points": [
    "Samuel Merritt University graduates earn $148,182 on average four years after graduation.",
    "The small college lacks on-campus housing and some amenities of larger institutions.",
    "Nursing and healthcare focus, plus Bay Area location, drive high earnings."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}