This List Of Colleges With The Poorest Alumni Is Straight Depressing

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Just last week we took a look at the best business schools for students who want to stack paper. What about the opposite end of the spectrum, though? The colleges that you should avoid because their degrees are essentially useless in terms of the most important metric: making money.

Start Class compiled a list of the top 25 colleges (bottom 25?) where the alumni make less than a high school graduate. They say college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. If you go to one of these schools, that saying is true because you’ll be up to your eyeballs in debt and poverty years after you graduate.

25. Albion College
Six-year median salary: $30,500
10-year median salary: $45,100

24. Westmont College
Six-year median salary: $30,500
10-year median salary: $48,300

23. CUNY City College
Six-year median salary: $30,300
10-year median salary: $44,500

22. UC Santa Cruz
Six-year median salary: $29,900
10-year median salary: $44,600

21. Lawrence University
Six-year median salary: $29,600
10-year median salary: $42,800

20. Presbyterian College
Six-year median salary: $28,800
10-year median salary: $41,300

19. Transylvania University
Six-year median salary: $28,700
10-year median salary: $41,100

18. Ohio Wesleyan University
Six-year median salary: $28,700
10-year median salary: $41,000

17. Cornell College
Six-year median salary: $28,600
10-year median salary: $41,900

16. Grinnell College
Six-year median salary: $28,500
10-year median salary: $45,600

15. Macalester College
Six-year median salary: $28,400
10-year median salary: $45,700

14. Oral Roberts University
Six-year median salary: $28,400
10-year median salary: $34,900

13. Lewis & Clark College
Six-year median salary: $27,500
10-year median salary: $43,400

12. Sarah Lawrence College
Six-year median salary: $27,000
10-year median salary: $39,700

11. Knox College
Six-year median salary: $27,000
10-year median salary: $41,600

10. Colorado College
Six-year median salary: $26,600
10-year median salary: $41,100

9. Beloit College
Six-year median salary: $26,200
10-year median salary: $37,900

8. Oberlin College
Six-year median salary: $25,900
10-year median salary: $38,400

7. Whitman College
Six-year median salary: $25,800
10-year median salary: $43,000

6. Hendrix College
Six-year median salary: $25,800
10-year median salary: $40,500

5. Reed College
Six-year median salary: $25,200
10-year median salary: $36,200

4. Berea College
Six-year median salary: $23,800
10-year median salary: $34,400

3. New College of Florida
Six-year median salary: $23,100
10-year median salary: N/A

2. Earlham College
Six-year median salary: $22,800
10-year median salary: $32,300

1. College of the Atlantic
Six-year median salary: $18,300
10-year median salary: $27,000

You’re better off just not going to college than going to one of these schools. Only three schools sport tuitions that are lower than their six-year median salary. Talk about a shitty ROI. Investing in Blackberry in 2007 was probably a better investment.

You know what isn’t a shocker from this list? The fact that 19 of these schools are labeled as liberal arts colleges. Hell, the number one school where you’ll become poor, College of the Atlantic? They only offer one major. ONE. It’s in human ecology.

[via Start Class]

Image via YouTube

  1. 1855_frat

    First time I’ve been proud of my school is when I saw that it was the only shitty WI liberal arts school not on this list.

    9 years ago at 11:24 am
  2. Frat----

    Why is this depressing? It’s almost all liberal arts colleges and not state schools

    9 years ago at 1:37 pm
  3. Bring Reagan Back

    Bunch of stupid liberal colleges…. With a fair mix of private christian colleges. State universities are the way to go

    9 years ago at 9:51 pm
  4. susanbanthony

    The consensus for these salaries is 6 years after enrollment…aka 1-2 years within graduating. the fact that they are liberal arts colleges most likely has more to do with people pursuing passions (like, I dunno, fucking art) that won’t turn around profit within a Vegas trip’s length of graduating college.

    9 years ago at 1:05 pm