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The top 10 schools for long-term career success

Unusual Whales

• 2 min read

LinkedIn built its latest university ranking around five equally weighted factors:

Job placement measured the share of graduates from 2019 to 2024 who entered a full-time job or graduate program within a year of finishing school. Internships and recruiter demand looked at how many students completed internships, combined with labor market interest in those graduates as reflected in LinkedIn InMail outreach. Career success tracked how many alumni went on to launch businesses or reach the C-suite. Network strength captured how tightly connected graduates are to one another — both within their own cohort and across past and current students. Finally, knowledge breadth assessed the range of fields studied and skills developed by recent alumni.

With those inputs, LinkedIn’s ranking produced some surprises. Well-known schools like Johns Hopkins, Emory, Georgia Tech, and UNC Chapel Hill didn’t make the list, while institutions with less national name recognition — including Bentley University (No. 15), Bucknell University (No. 21), and Fairfield University (No. 28) — landed in the top 50. The results show that an Ivy League pedigree isn’t the only pathway to standout career outcomes.

“Schools like Bentley University and Fairfield University are excelling at connecting students with strong internships, fostering robust alumni networks, and helping graduates land jobs or grad school placements quickly,” said Seaman, who noted that these factors are critical to long-term success.

For example, 93% of Bucknell’s class of 2024 found career opportunities within nine months of graduation, earning an average starting salary of $73,075. Smaller colleges also showed strength: Babson College and Colgate University were recognized for network reach and job placement, with Babson in particular boasting the highest proportion of graduates who went on to become founders.

The growing weight of AI skills

At the same time, business leaders stress that no matter what school students attend, mastering AI is increasingly essential. Without those skills, Gen Z risks swelling the ranks of NEET youth — young people not in employment, education, or training.

Earlier this year, more than 250 CEOs — including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi — urged lawmakers to expand access to computer science and AI education. “In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future — to be AI creators, not just consumers,” the CEOs wrote, calling basic training in the field “crucial for every student in a technology-driven world.”

Still, tech isn’t the only area worth studying. When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was asked what he’d choose if he were starting over today, he said he’d lean more toward the physical sciences rather than just software — suggesting that interdisciplinary knowledge will remain valuable.

LinkedIn’s top 50 schools for long-term career success

  1. Princeton University
  2. Duke University
  3. University of Pennsylvania
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  5. Cornell University
  6. Harvard University
  7. Babson College
  8. University of Notre Dame
  9. Dartmouth College
  10. Stanford University
  11. Northwestern University
  12. University of Virginia
  13. Vanderbilt University
  14. Brown University
  15. Bentley University
  16. Tufts University
  17. Lehigh University
  18. Columbia University
  19. Yale University
  20. Carnegie Mellon University
  21. Bucknell University
  22. Boston College
  23. Villanova University
  24. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  25. Wake Forest University
  26. University of Chicago
  27. University of Southern California
  28. Fairfield University
  29. Washington and Lee University
  30. University of California, Berkeley
  31. Rice University
  32. Georgetown University
  33. Purdue University
  34. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  35. Miami University
  36. Colgate University
  37. Southern Methodist University
  38. Bryant University
  39. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  40. The Pennsylvania State University
  41. California Institute of Technology
  42. Trinity College
  43. Boston University
  44. University of Richmond
  45. Stevens Institute of Technology
  46. The University of Texas at Austin
  47. Indiana University Bloomington
  48. Lafayette College
  49. Providence College
  50. University of Wisconsin-Madison

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