That piece of sheepskin with the fancy Latin writing on it, pronouncing you to be a graduate of your alma mater, is not just a memento of the past four years to be framed and hung on the wall; it’s a physical representation of the tens of thousands of dollars in hard-earned cash and student loans that paid for it. 

Before you or your high school graduate invest in a college or university education, make sure that the return on investment is worth the money paid for it. GradReports, an online reporting service that rates colleges based on several metrics, examined how the numbers stack up by using its proprietary Salary Score to compare the median alumni salaries of over 4.6 million college graduates in the first year after graduation. The scores were weighted by student enrollment across the same 10 academic programs, to determine salary scores for more than 2,281 schools and 885 degrees.

GradReports found that 86 of the top 100 schools for earning potential were private colleges or universities, and the top 19 schools were private nonprofit institutions. The reporting service also found that only six out of eight Ivy League schools were listed among the top 25 schools for earning potential, proving that while prestigious universities often produce highly paid graduates, there are many non-elite institutions whose graduates earn comparable salaries across a range of academic majors, too.

Here, in ascending order, are 2021's top 10 performing U.S. colleges by Salary Score.

10. Dominican University of California, San Rafael, Calif.

Founded in 1890 by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, Dominican is located 12 miles north of San Francisco. It is one of the oldest universities in California. Undergraduates pay a reported annual tuition of $45,850, and the school earned a Salary Score of 97.21 out of 100.