{
  "id": 6770541,
  "title": "Even low-ranked colleges can be a ticket to six figures: Graduates earn $100K+ a decade later—more than twice as much as high school grads",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/even-low-ranked-colleges-can-be-a-ticket-to-six-figures-graduates",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-11T15:05:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/11/higher-education-low-ranked-schools-lead-to-six-figures-not-just-ivy-league-new-college-ranking-gen-z-100k/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As students return to their studies, a new ranking by Forbes sheds light on whether attending a prestigious college is necessary to secure a high-paying job. While elite institutions like MIT, Princeton, and Harvard dominate the list, with graduates earning median salaries exceeding $120,000 within a decade, there are also lower-ranked colleges where six-figure salaries are attainable.\n\nMarietta College, a private liberal arts institution in rural Ohio ranked 500th, has median 10-year earnings of $105,837, placing it well within the six-figure range. In fact, the vast majority of schools on the list boast median earnings surpassing $90,000, indicating that the difference in earnings between top-tier colleges and lesser-known institutions may not be as significant as students might assume.\n\nTo put this into perspective, the median annual earnings for full-time workers aged 25 to 34 with only a high school diploma stand at $41,800, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Despite the potential salary differences, college rankings offer more than just financial advantages. Institutions frequently appearing at the top often provide benefits like extensive alumni networks, access to prominent faculty and research opportunities, and increased name recognition.\n\nHowever, these advantages come with potential drawbacks, especially as colleges face financial pressures. For example, Marietta College has struggled with budget shortfalls, leading to program eliminations and faculty layoffs. Moreover, a forecast by Huron Consulting Group predicts that approximately 442 of the nation's 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges and universities could be at risk of closing or merging within the next decade.\n\nWhile the rising cost of college has contributed to the increasing student loan debt burden, the payoff may not be immediate. In 2015, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates surpassed that of all workers for the first time, and the gap has widened since then. Currently, the unemployment rate among recent graduates sits at 5.7%, compared to 4.1% for all workers. This trend has led to a decline in Americans' confidence in the value of a college education, with the percentage of people who consider college \"very important\" falling to a record low of 35%.",
  "summary": "Nearly every school in a new ranking has median earnings above $90,000, showing students don’t necessarily need to attend Harvard to make a strong salary.",
  "key_points": [],
  "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."
}