52 Engineering colleges in the Northeast with strong social mobility outcomes. Average earnings: $80,144.
We started with Engineering programs scoring 60th percentile or above for mobility—schools that actually serve low-income students. Then we ranked by earnings. The result: 52 programs that prove accessibility and strong outcomes aren't mutually exclusive.
The data puts Massachusetts Institute of Technology first—Engineering graduates earn $143,372 while the school maintains a 73rd percentile mobility score. Carnegie Mellon University follows at $114,862 with an impressive 84th percentile mobility ranking, proving elite outcomes don't require abandoning accessibility.
Columbia University serves 23% Pell Grant recipients—students from families earning under $60,000—while still producing graduates earning $102,491. The affordability story is equally compelling: MIT graduates face just a 2.3% payment burden, landing in the 'Excellent' category. True mobility means both access AND manageable debt.
Earnings: $143,372 | Mobility: 73rd percentile
23% Pell students with $102,491 earnings
2.0% payment burden | Excellent
9.9% family burden | Good
| Rank | School | Graduate Earnings | Student Debt | Student GPS | Parent Debt | Parent GPS | Mobility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | $143,372 | $14,768 | Excellent | $42,501 | Good | 73th percentile mobility | |
| #2 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityPrivate | $114,862 | $21,750 | Excellent | $37,130 | Manageable | 84th percentile mobility |
| #3 | University Of PennsylvaniaPrivate | $111,371 | $15,715 | Excellent | $33,124 | Good | 88th percentile mobility |
| #4 | Princeton UniversityPrivate | $110,066 | $10,320 | Excellent | $41,000 | Manageable | 77th percentile mobility |
| #5 | $108,772 | $27,000 | Excellent | $53,192 | Manageable | 74th percentile mobility | |
| #6 | Lehigh UniversityPrivate | $105,584 | $21,960 | Excellent | $42,245 | Manageable | 81th percentile mobility |
| #7 | Cornell UniversityPrivate | $104,043 | $14,000 | Excellent | $38,000 | Good | 94th percentile mobility |
| #8 | $102,491 | $21,500 | Excellent | $35,000 | Manageable | 91th percentile mobility | |
| #9 | $102,051 | $23,750 | Excellent | $52,241 | Challenging | 79th percentile mobility | |
| #10 | Harvard UniversityPrivate | $101,817 | $14,000 | Excellent | $28,000 | Good | 90th percentile mobility |
| #11 | Yale UniversityPrivate | $100,533 | $12,975 | Excellent | $29,769 | Manageable | 81th percentile mobility |
| #12 | Villanova UniversityPrivate | $100,423 | $25,874 | Excellent | $40,000 | Manageable | 74th percentile mobility |
| #13 | Dartmouth CollegePrivate | $97,434 | $17,500 | Excellent | $44,481 | Manageable | 79th percentile mobility |
| #14 | Suny Maritime CollegePublic | $95,951 | $23,250 | Excellent | $38,700 | Good | 76th percentile mobility |
| #15 | Bucknell UniversityPrivate | $93,807 | $27,000 | Excellent | $62,750 | Challenging | 74th percentile mobility |
| #16 | Brown UniversityPrivate | $93,487 | $11,428 | Excellent | $48,245 | Manageable | 84th percentile mobility |
| #17 | Drexel UniversityPrivate | $84,648 | $25,325 | Excellent | $40,932 | Manageable | 89th percentile mobility |
| #18 | $84,276 | $21,000 | Excellent | $22,866 | Good | 94th percentile mobility | |
| #19 | Boston UniversityPrivate | $83,238 | $23,250 | Excellent | $39,000 | Manageable | 91th percentile mobility |
| #20 | Tufts UniversityPrivate | $83,214 | $16,250 | Excellent | $38,325 | Good | 83th percentile mobility |
| #21 | New York UniversityPrivate | $82,509 | $20,500 | Excellent | $64,795 | Challenging | 94th percentile mobility |
| #22 | $82,392 | $25,000 | Excellent | $38,678 | Manageable | 87th percentile mobility | |
| #23 | Binghamton UniversityPublic | $80,596 | $18,500 | Excellent | $27,270 | Good | 94th percentile mobility |
| #24 | Syracuse UniversityPrivate | $79,164 | $26,000 | Excellent | $39,841 | Manageable | 82th percentile mobility |
| #25 | University Of RochesterPrivate | $79,042 | $21,000 | Excellent | $30,000 | Good | 82th percentile mobility |
Our social mobility rankings answer: "Which schools deliver the best outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds?"
This is not simply "which schools admit the most low-income students" — it's which schools both serve low-income students and deliver strong earnings outcomes.
Data based on 2024-2025 Dept of Education reporting standards. Learn about our methodology →
