Best Colleges in the Southeast

Best Colleges in the Southeast, ranked by median 10-year earnings. Region: our Southeast grouping. Included states / district: AL FL GA KY MS NC SC TN VA WV. 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 253 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

1Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, Georgia14%1480$12k$103k94%18,785222 mi 2Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina6%1548$30k$98k97%6,442111 mi 3Washington and Lee UniversityLexington, Virginia14%1498$24k$95k94%1,881121 mi 4Chamberlain University-GeorgiaSandy Springs, Georgia91%—$33k$92k50%1,940223 mi 5Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee6%1549$16k$92k94%7,208380 mi 6University of Virginia-Main CampusCharlottesville, Virginia17%1480$22k$87k96%17,59767 mi 7Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-WorldwideDaytona Beach, Florida58%1148$19k$84k21%9,1394 mi 8Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona BeachDaytona Beach, Florida65%1257$41k$84k67%7,8604 mi 9Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg, Virginia55%1364$25k$82k86%30,923173 mi 10Davidson CollegeDavidson, North Carolina13%1469$17k$81k91%1,867167 mi 11Emory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia11%1520$23k$80k91%7,298219 mi 12Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina22%1475$29k$78k89%5,485183 mi 13Virginia Military InstituteLexington, Virginia71%1244$17k$77k76%1,527120 mi 14George Mason UniversityFairfax, Virginia87%1274$18k$76k68%27,75212 mi 15University of RichmondUniversity of Richmond, Virginia22%1497$31k$76k85%2,98022 mi 16University of MiamiCoral Gables, Florida19%1415$37k$75k84%12,9132 mi 17Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina66%1208$42k$75k84%6,452143 mi 18William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia34%1473$19k$73k89%7,0553 mi 19AdventHealth UniversityOrlando, Florida——$30k$72k39%1,36133 mi 20University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina15%1439$12k$72k91%20,752115 mi 21Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina23%1208$21k$72k75%2,705< 1 mi 22University of FloridaGainesville, Florida24%1403$7k$72k91%35,62942 mi 23Clemson UniversityClemson, South Carolina38%1353$22k$72k87%23,300187 mi 24James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia72%1256$23k$70k80%20,88882 mi 25Wofford CollegeSpartanburg, South Carolina52%1296$19k$69k84%1,816178 mi 26North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina42%1376$17k$69k85%27,37193 mi 27University of GeorgiaAthens, Georgia38%1397$14k$69k90%32,137175 mi 28Furman UniversityGreenville, South Carolina43%1371$30k$69k79%2,379188 mi 29Jacksonville UniversityJacksonville, Florida57%1205$25k$68k51%2,93012 mi 30Marymount UniversityArlington, Virginia93%—$29k$68k54%1,8103 mi 31Rhodes CollegeMemphis, Tennessee50%1362$29k$67k85%1,836326 mi 32Centre CollegeDanville, Kentucky54%1352$21k$66k81%1,400279 mi 33Auburn UniversityAuburn, Alabama46%1345$24k$65k82%26,816151 mi 34The University of the SouthSewanee, Tennessee57%1344$28k$65k80%1,607324 mi 35University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia, South Carolina60%1297$23k$62k79%29,820101 mi 36Bellarmine UniversityLouisville, Kentucky86%1210$21k$62k64%2,161249 mi 37University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, Alabama69%1319$19k$62k64%6,591285 mi 38Florida State UniversityTallahassee, Florida24%1361$11k$62k86%32,21224 mi 39Galen College of Nursing-LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky——$19k$61k61%4,801248 mi 40High Point UniversityHigh Point, North Carolina75%1288$39k$61k74%5,129165 mi 41University of Mary WashingtonFredericksburg, Virginia80%1272$21k$61k66%3,5668 mi 42Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News, Virginia86%1180$23k$61k72%4,3651 mi 43Florida International UniversityMiami, Florida55%1163$9k$60k74%39,5088 mi 44The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleKnoxville, Tennessee42%1311$19k$60k74%30,418294 mi 45Spelman CollegeAtlanta, Georgia25%1220$39k$60k78%3,414222 mi 46The University of TampaTampa, Florida40%—$36k$59k64%10,5721 mi 47Thomas More UniversityCrestview Hills, Kentucky90%1180$22k$59k41%1,293186 mi 48The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama77%1285$22k$59k73%33,227173 mi 49Nova Southeastern UniversityFort Lauderdale, Florida73%1157$30k$59k63%7,2408 mi 50Hampton UniversityHampton, Virginia62%969$25k$59k57%3,7271 mi 51University of KentuckyLexington, Kentucky93%1215$19k$59k71%24,763249 mi 52Samford UniversityBirmingham, Alabama82%1201$33k$58k77%4,206198 mi 53Randolph-Macon CollegeAshland, Virginia87%1095$28k$58k70%1,63931 mi 54Shenandoah UniversityWinchester, Virginia77%—$30k$58k67%2,11661 mi 55Mercer UniversityMacon, Georgia69%1271$24k$58k70%4,500157 mi 56University of Central FloridaOrlando, Florida40%1269$10k$58k78%59,14623 mi 57Rollins CollegeWinter Park, Florida48%1271$35k$58k75%2,63132 mi 58Georgia College & State UniversityMilledgeville, Georgia78%1163$21k$58k64%5,947143 mi 59Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, Virginia93%1137$23k$58k63%20,75318 mi 60Roanoke CollegeSalem, Virginia83%1211$25k$58k67%1,767153 mi 61University of South FloridaTampa, Florida43%1227$10k$58k77%37,2079 mi 62Cumberland UniversityLebanon, Tennessee67%—$19k$58k46%2,104378 mi 63Queens University of CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina62%1206$31k$58k61%1,211152 mi 64Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, Georgia69%1113$15k$58k52%41,254239 mi 65University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina80%1231$15k$57k69%24,453153 mi 66Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida66%1127$9k$57k63%23,7572 mi 67College of CharlestonCharleston, South Carolina60%1247$19k$56k66%10,558< 1 mi 68University of LynchburgLynchburg, Virginia43%1125$22k$56k57%1,577105 mi 69University of North FloridaJacksonville, Florida53%1153$10k$56k69%13,3597 mi 70Barry UniversityMiami, Florida77%—$23k$56k38%2,2122 mi 71West Virginia UniversityMorgantown, West Virginia89%1122$16k$56k65%17,385159 mi 72Belmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee95%1280$33k$56k71%7,137380 mi 73University of CharlestonCharleston, West Virginia62%—$22k$56k46%2,259216 mi 74Lipscomb UniversityNashville, Tennessee68%1256$25k$56k72%2,997378 mi 75Florida Southern CollegeLakeland, Florida64%1252$29k$55k71%2,65630 mi 76Oglethorpe UniversityAtlanta, Georgia88%1227$20k$55k54%1,352221 mi 77East Carolina UniversityGreenville, North Carolina89%1180$16k$55k63%19,89618 mi 78University of North Carolina WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina64%1287$20k$55k71%14,9223 mi 79Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, Virginia90%1197$15k$55k46%17,5141 mi 80Campbell UniversityBuies Creek, North Carolina87%—$25k$55k61%2,68086 mi 81Transylvania UniversityLexington, Kentucky87%1287$22k$55k71%1,005247 mi 82Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFort Myers, Florida63%1114$13k$55k57%13,8745 mi 83University of Alabama at BirminghamBirmingham, Alabama88%1258$19k$55k64%11,635201 mi 84St. Thomas UniversityMiami Gardens, Florida98%—$26k$54k48%2,2146 mi 85Brenau UniversityGainesville, Georgia88%1079$19k$54k33%1,029210 mi 86Union UniversityJackson, Tennessee60%1256$27k$54k66%1,607345 mi 87University of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky79%1150$18k$54k61%14,727248 mi 88Berry CollegeMount Berry, Georgia64%1220$22k$54k69%2,245268 mi 89Radford UniversityRadford, Virginia90%1060$15k$54k49%6,038180 mi 90Southern Adventist UniversityCollegedale, Tennessee66%1129$24k$54k49%2,773297 mi 91Bridgewater CollegeBridgewater, Virginia92%1180$18k$53k53%1,40087 mi 92Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro, Georgia88%1053$15k$53k55%21,79053 mi 93Morehouse CollegeAtlanta, Georgia44%1090$39k$53k59%2,844222 mi 94Wingate UniversityWingate, North Carolina91%1111$21k$53k46%2,668126 mi 95Longwood UniversityFarmville, Virginia90%1120$19k$52k61%3,01562 mi 96Georgetown CollegeGeorgetown, Kentucky91%1138$14k$52k49%1,097238 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.