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2024 Best Grad Schools in the United States for Doctorate Degrees
There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which grad school to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
What's on This Page: * Our Methodology
- Best Graduate Schools List
Choosing the Best Grad School for You
Our analysis looked at 691 grad schools in the United States to determine which ones have the best doctorate degree programs. Our ranking for the best grad schools is based on objective factors. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. The following gives more info on what goes into our ranking factors and why we consider those factors.
Higher Than Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving a doctorate degree from the school. Recent students who earned a doctorate degree in the United States entered the job market making an average of $75,260 while those in the top 20 schools on our list made an average of $88,513.
Taking Out Student Loans
Graduate students may also take on a lot of debt while working on their doctorate so we factor that into our rankings as well. The average amount taken out in student loans for graduates at a particular school may be crippling for those who earn less than average wages after graduation.
More Ranking Factors That Are Important
We also analyze a number of other factors in addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt when coming up with our yearly Best Doctorate Degree Schools ranking. On a broad level, other factors that go into our rankings include such things as the demand of the school, the student body caliber, if the school has online options, and the educational resources provided by the school.
We go into more detail on these factors on our graduate school ranking methodology page.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Not quite ready to work on your doctorate? Check out our Best Master's Degree Schools ranking.
Top Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States
Learn more about these excellent grad schools below:
Our analysis found Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best grad school for doctorate degrees in the United States in this year’s ranking. MIT is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 568 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from MIT go into careers with an average salary of $115,303 during the early years of their career.
Learn More About Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The excellent doctorate degree programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the large private not-for-profit school handed out 1,254 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from UPenn make an average of $97,555 a year.
Learn More About University of Pennsylvania
A rank of #3 on our Best Doctorate Degrees in the United States list means Stanford University is a great place for students working on their degree. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Stanford, California. It awarded 1,105 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $98,295 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Stanford University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvard University. The school came in at #4 in the United States on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Harvard is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,444 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Harvard go into careers with an average salary of $95,158 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Harvard University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Princeton University. The school came in at #5 in the United States on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Princeton, New Jersey is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 293 students in 2020-2021.
Full Princeton University Report
Carnegie Mellon University landed the #6 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 333 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Full Carnegie Mellon University Report
Northwestern University landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 1,028 students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $93,954 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Northwestern University
University of Chicago landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 755 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from UChicago make an average of $96,200 a year.
Learn More About University of Chicago
Rice University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Rice is located in Houston, Texas and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 207 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Learn More About Rice University
University of Southern California did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #10. Located in Los Angeles, California, the large private not-for-profit school handed out 1,914 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from USC make an average of $87,196 a year.
Learn More About University of Southern California
University of California - Berkeley ranked #11 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. UC Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 1,187 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UC Berkeley make an average of $88,876 per year during the early years of their career.
Read full report on University of California - Berkeley
Vanderbilt University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Nashville, Tennessee. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 787 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Vanderbilt make an average of $91,182 a year.
Learn More About Vanderbilt University
Georgetown University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #13. Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 1,014 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Georgetown make an average of $105,462 per year during the early years of their career.
Learn More About Georgetown University
Yale University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #14. Located in New Haven, Connecticut, the fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 742 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Yale go into careers with an average salary of $91,187 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Yale University
Teachers College at Columbia University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #15. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in New York, New York. It awarded 185 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Teachers College make an average of $78,856 per year during the early years of their career.
Full Teachers College at Columbia University Report
Duke University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Located in Durham, North Carolina, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 949 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Duke make an average of $92,967 per year during the early years of their career.
Full Duke University Report
Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #17 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Columbia is a large private not-for-profit school situated in New York, New York. It awarded 1,502 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Columbia make an average of $102,938 a year.
Learn More About Columbia University in the City of New York
Bentley University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #18. Bentley is located in Waltham, Massachusetts and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Full Bentley University Report
Suffolk University landed the #19 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 351 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Suffolk is $56,355 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Suffolk University
Cornell University landed the #20 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. Cornell is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 777 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Cornell is $107,405 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Cornell University
With a ranking of #21, Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Atlanta, Georgia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate degrees to 577 students in 2020-2021.
Full Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Report
Brown University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Providence, Rhode Island, and it awarded 293 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Brown is $60,843 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Brown University
Washington University in St Louis came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking. WUSTL is located in Saint Louis, Missouri and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 742 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from WUSTL make an average of $72,507 a year.
Learn More About Washington University in St Louis
University of Notre Dame did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States ranking, coming in at #24. Notre Dame, Indiana is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 422 students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Notre Dame make an average of $78,016 a year.
Read full report on University of Notre Dame
With a ranking of #25, California Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States list. Caltech is located in Pasadena, California and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 184 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Caltech go into careers with an average salary of $59,996 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on California Institute of Technology
Rest of the Top 50 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in the United States
Not only did these schools make the top 50 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Narrow Doctorate Degree Schools by Region
Rocky mountains, middle atlantic, great lakes, new england, plains states, far western us, other u.s. territories, rest of the top 15% doctorate degree schools in the united states.
To learn more about the schools below, just click on their names:
Honorable Mentions
These schools also performed well in our Best Doctorate Degree Schools ranking:
More Rankings
Bachelor's degrees, returning adults, master's degrees.
More Rankings >
Notes and References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System ( IPEDS ) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s ( College Scorecard ).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies .
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