Don’t go to an Ivy League school if you want to make a lot of money or have a meaningful job right after graduation.
Of course, an education from one of the northeast's elite league of colleges can earn graduates loads of money and satisfaction over a lifetime. But according to a data collected by the salary research firm PayScale, no Ivy League school cracks the top 10 when it comes to early career pay or how meaningful graduates find their jobs. And for mid-career pay, only Yale -- in 10th place -- made it into the best schools.
Instead, schools that specialize in engineering, mathematics, science and technology topped the list of early career earners, with California Institute of Technology in first place, followed closely by Harvey Mudd College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PayScale's data isn't perfect. For the report, the company sifted out the 1.4 million people with college or graduate school degrees who had responded to its online salary survey, which is open to anyone. After vetting some of the self-reported numbers to make sure they fit within economic brackets for those careers, the company whittled down the list to look at graduates of the 1,000 schools in its report.
The data is also self-selective. PayScale only has numbers from people who bothered to fill out its online survey on their own, so some of the colleges may not be well-represented in the data.
However, the report contains some interesting insights. Many of the schools with top earners are those that specialize in engineering and science. And when it comes to meaningful work, health services came out on top. The University of Texas Medical Branch, Medical College of Georgia and Viterbo University, which has a strong nursing program, were among the top five schools with graduates reporting highly satisfying careers.
Many lesser-known schools also ranked highly on PayScale's list, proving that smaller, local colleges and universities can provide great value.
See how your school ranked or sort the data below with this chart, created by The Huffington Post Associate Infographics Editor Alissa Scheller:
Source: PayScale