Best Colleges in the South

Best Colleges in the South, ranked by median 10-year earnings. Region: Census South region. Included states / district: DE DC FL GA MD NC SC VA WV AL KY MS TN AR LA OK TX. Median earnings of federally aided former students who are working and not enrolled, 10 years after entry; includes students who did not graduate. “Best” on this page means highest reported earnings, not an overall quality score. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 397 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

1Georgetown UniversityWashington, District of Columbia13%1487$41k$103k95%7,5691 mi 2Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, Georgia14%1480$12k$103k94%18,785222 mi 3West Coast University-TexasRichardson, Texas——$53k$103k31%2,67313 mi 4Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina6%1548$30k$98k97%6,442111 mi 5Washington and Lee UniversityLexington, Virginia14%1498$24k$95k94%1,881121 mi 6Chamberlain University-TexasHouston, Texas84%—$32k$92k25%2,27031 mi 7Chamberlain University-GeorgiaSandy Springs, Georgia91%—$33k$92k50%1,940223 mi 8Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterLubbock, Texas———$92k—1,482457 mi 9Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee6%1549$16k$92k94%7,208380 mi 10George Washington UniversityWashington, District of Columbia47%1433$37k$91k84%11,1821 mi 11Rice UniversityHouston, Texas8%1553$13k$90k95%4,77620 mi 12Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, Maryland6%1553$19k$88k94%5,6935 mi 13University of Virginia-Main CampusCharlottesville, Virginia17%1480$22k$87k96%17,59767 mi 14Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-WorldwideDaytona Beach, Florida58%1148$19k$84k21%9,1394 mi 15Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona BeachDaytona Beach, Florida65%1257$41k$84k67%7,8604 mi 16University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park, Maryland45%1473$16k$83k89%30,7609 mi 17Loyola University MarylandBaltimore, Maryland75%1290$31k$83k79%3,8696 mi 18Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg, Virginia55%1364$25k$82k86%30,923173 mi 19Davidson CollegeDavidson, North Carolina13%1469$17k$81k91%1,867167 mi 20Emory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia11%1520$23k$80k91%7,298219 mi 21Southern Methodist UniversityDallas, Texas63%1428$41k$78k84%7,277237 mi 22Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina22%1475$29k$78k89%5,485183 mi 23American UniversityWashington, District of Columbia62%1381$42k$77k75%7,2663 mi 24Virginia Military InstituteLexington, Virginia71%1244$17k$77k76%1,527120 mi 25George Mason UniversityFairfax, Virginia87%1274$18k$76k68%27,75212 mi 26University of RichmondUniversity of Richmond, Virginia22%1497$31k$76k85%2,98022 mi 27University of MiamiCoral Gables, Florida19%1415$37k$75k84%12,9132 mi 28The University of Texas at AustinAustin, Texas27%1395$20k$75k89%42,855126 mi 29Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina66%1208$42k$75k84%6,452143 mi 30University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesLittle Rock, Arkansas———$74k—1,571325 mi 31William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia34%1473$19k$73k89%7,0553 mi 32The Catholic University of AmericaWashington, District of Columbia83%—$30k$73k79%3,1544 mi 33University of DelawareNewark, Delaware71%1292$18k$73k81%19,0718 mi 34AdventHealth UniversityOrlando, Florida——$30k$72k39%1,36133 mi 35University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina15%1439$12k$72k91%20,752115 mi 36Texas A&M University-College StationCollege Station, Texas57%1280$21k$72k84%59,61597 mi 37Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina23%1208$21k$72k75%2,705< 1 mi 38Trinity UniversitySan Antonio, Texas26%1416$23k$72k84%2,505120 mi 39University of FloridaGainesville, Florida24%1403$7k$72k91%35,62942 mi 40Clemson UniversityClemson, South Carolina38%1353$22k$72k87%23,300187 mi 41University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyBaltimore, Maryland72%1323$16k$70k70%10,7015 mi 42James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia72%1256$23k$70k80%20,88882 mi 43Wofford CollegeSpartanburg, South Carolina52%1296$19k$69k84%1,816178 mi 44North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina42%1376$17k$69k85%27,37193 mi 45University of GeorgiaAthens, Georgia38%1397$14k$69k90%32,137175 mi 46Furman UniversityGreenville, South Carolina43%1371$30k$69k79%2,379188 mi 47Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth, Texas44%1298$37k$68k86%11,026246 mi 48The University of Texas at DallasRichardson, Texas65%1286$18k$68k76%21,751245 mi 49Jacksonville UniversityJacksonville, Florida57%1205$25k$68k51%2,93012 mi 50Marymount UniversityArlington, Virginia93%—$29k$68k54%1,8103 mi 51Rhodes CollegeMemphis, Tennessee50%1362$29k$67k85%1,836326 mi 52Centre CollegeDanville, Kentucky54%1352$21k$66k81%1,400279 mi 53Baylor UniversityWaco, Texas51%1329$41k$66k80%14,785175 mi 54Auburn UniversityAuburn, Alabama46%1345$24k$65k82%26,816151 mi 55University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, Maryland——$22k$65k33%49,66410 mi 56The University of the SouthSewanee, Tennessee57%1344$28k$65k80%1,607324 mi 57Towson UniversityTowson, Maryland82%1095$17k$64k69%16,1369 mi 58Mount St. Mary's UniversityEmmitsburg, Maryland74%1176$23k$64k65%1,76849 mi 59Tulane University of LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana14%1448$40k$63k86%7,7676 mi 60The University of Texas at ArlingtonArlington, Texas80%1124$14k$63k54%32,294239 mi 61University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusNorman, Oklahoma77%1246$15k$63k75%22,734402 mi 62University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences CenterOklahoma City, Oklahoma———$63k—1,214421 mi 63Howard UniversityWashington, District of Columbia41%1213$51k$63k70%10,1083 mi 64Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, Texas73%1190$19k$62k69%32,394456 mi 65University of HoustonHouston, Texas74%1250$14k$62k65%38,38017 mi 66University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia, South Carolina60%1297$23k$62k79%29,820101 mi 67Stevenson UniversityOwings Mills, Maryland79%—$27k$62k68%3,10214 mi 68Bellarmine UniversityLouisville, Kentucky86%1210$21k$62k64%2,161249 mi 69University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, Alabama69%1319$19k$62k64%6,591285 mi 70Florida State UniversityTallahassee, Florida24%1361$11k$62k86%32,21224 mi 71Salisbury UniversitySalisbury, Maryland87%1252$18k$62k68%6,05713 mi 72Galen College of Nursing-LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky——$19k$61k61%4,801248 mi 73University of TulsaTulsa, Oklahoma62%1389$15k$61k72%2,813443 mi 74High Point UniversityHigh Point, North Carolina75%1288$39k$61k74%5,129165 mi 75University of BaltimoreBaltimore, Maryland79%940$14k$61k38%1,1333 mi 76Austin CollegeSherman, Texas48%1212$21k$61k67%1,165284 mi 77Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeBaton Rouge, Louisiana73%1285$19k$61k69%30,59447 mi 78Concordia University TexasAustin, Texas91%—$23k$61k45%1,185137 mi 79McDaniel CollegeWestminster, Maryland78%—$22k$61k63%1,61730 mi 80University of Mary WashingtonFredericksburg, Virginia80%1272$21k$61k66%3,5668 mi 81Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News, Virginia86%1180$23k$61k72%4,3651 mi 82Hendrix CollegeConway, Arkansas56%1282$24k$60k72%1,100350 mi 83Florida International UniversityMiami, Florida55%1163$9k$60k74%39,5088 mi 84The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleKnoxville, Tennessee42%1311$19k$60k74%30,418294 mi 85St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary's City, Maryland69%1261$18k$60k70%1,603< 1 mi 86Spelman CollegeAtlanta, Georgia25%1220$39k$60k78%3,414222 mi 87The University of TampaTampa, Florida40%—$36k$59k64%10,5721 mi 88Thomas More UniversityCrestview Hills, Kentucky90%1180$22k$59k41%1,293186 mi 89University of St ThomasHouston, Texas90%1090$19k$59k69%3,22020 mi 90The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama77%1285$22k$59k73%33,227173 mi 91Nova Southeastern UniversityFort Lauderdale, Florida73%1157$30k$59k63%7,2408 mi 92Hampton UniversityHampton, Virginia62%969$25k$59k57%3,7271 mi 93University of KentuckyLexington, Kentucky93%1215$19k$59k71%24,763249 mi 94University of Houston-Clear LakeHouston, Texas91%1060$16k$59k52%6,0785 mi 95Saint Edward's UniversityAustin, Texas81%1138$26k$59k63%2,493123 mi 96Samford UniversityBirmingham, Alabama82%1201$33k$58k77%4,206198 mi

US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. Missing or suppressed values are excluded. A ranking is a comparison of the named measure, not an overall quality score.