The Government Confirms That Ivy Leaguers Make a Ridiculous Amount of Money

September 15, 2015

New figures reported by the U.S. Department of Education are blowing what we already know out of the water.

The Department of Education drew data directly from student loan and tax data and compiled its numbers into charts, according to Slate. The numbers show what grads at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles are earning 10 years after they first enter their university colleges.

The average four-year college student earns a typical $40,500 salary upon graduating their alma mater. At schools like MIT, the median salary for an alumna a decade after their first year enrolling in the school is $91,600. Harvard graduates earn an average of $87,000 while their Ivy League peers from Brown is a more modest $57,900.

The chart may not even be an accurate representation of how much students at elite colleges earn considering the data is based on students who borrowed student loans or received Pell grants. A good portion of the information excludes affluent undergrads who have parents to finance their education in full. In that case, this chart is a representation of the lesser privileged students at the top schools in the country.

The takeaway: it pays to go to an elite school.

On another very important note, below is the chart displaying the gender gap in incomes of graduates from elite schools. Men from Harvard University earn an average $53,600 more per year than women who graduate from the same university. This unfortunate trend is apparent across all schools. At MIT, men make a whopping $58,100 more than female graduates from the college.

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