61 Engineering colleges in the Northeast with strong social mobility outcomes. Average earnings: $81,717.
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 | 80th percentile mobility | |
| #2 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityPrivate | $114,862 | $21,750 | Excellent | $37,130 | Good | 91th percentile mobility |
| #3 | University Of PennsylvaniaPrivate | $111,371 | $15,715 | Excellent | $33,124 | Good | 93th percentile mobility |
| #4 | Princeton UniversityPrivate | $110,066 | $10,320 | Excellent | $41,000 | Good | 83th percentile mobility |
| #5 | $108,772 | $27,000 | Excellent | $53,192 | Manageable | 82th percentile mobility | |
| #6 | Lehigh UniversityPrivate | $105,584 | $21,960 | Excellent | $42,245 | Manageable | 88th percentile mobility |
| #7 | Cornell UniversityPrivate | $104,043 | $14,000 | Excellent | $38,000 | Good | 96th percentile mobility |
| #8 | $103,470 | $27,000 | Excellent | $53,567 | Manageable | 80th percentile mobility | |
| #9 | $102,491 | $21,500 | Excellent | $35,000 | Excellent | 95th percentile mobility | |
| #10 | $102,051 | $23,750 | Excellent | $52,241 | Manageable | 87th percentile mobility | |
| #11 | Harvard UniversityPrivate | $101,817 | $14,000 | Excellent | $28,000 | Good | 94th percentile mobility |
| #12 | Yale UniversityPrivate | $100,533 | $12,975 | Excellent | $29,769 | Manageable | 88th percentile mobility |
| #13 | Villanova UniversityPrivate | $100,423 | $25,874 | Excellent | $40,000 | Manageable | 82th percentile mobility |
| #14 | Dartmouth CollegePrivate | $97,434 | $17,500 | Excellent | $44,481 | Good | 86th percentile mobility |
| #15 | Suny Maritime CollegePublic | $95,951 | $23,250 | Excellent | $38,700 | Good | 84th percentile mobility |
| #16 | Bucknell UniversityPrivate | $93,807 | $27,000 | Excellent | $62,750 | Manageable | 82th percentile mobility |
| #17 | Brown UniversityPrivate | $93,487 | $11,428 | Excellent | $48,245 | Manageable | 90th percentile mobility |
| #18 | Northeastern UniversityPrivate | $92,538 | $24,250 | Excellent | $34,984 | Good | 81th percentile mobility |
| #19 | Lafayette CollegePrivate | $91,410 | $16,000 | Excellent | $59,000 | Manageable | 78th percentile mobility |
| #20 | Maine Maritime AcademyPublic | $89,964 | $27,000 | Excellent | $55,812 | Good | 75th percentile mobility |
| #21 | Union CollegePrivate | $88,604 | $25,337 | Excellent | $57,000 | Challenging | 78th percentile mobility |
| #22 | Manhattan UniversityPrivate | $86,316 | $26,000 | Excellent | $56,630 | Manageable | 75th percentile mobility |
| #23 | Fordham UniversityPrivate | $85,569 | $24,300 | Excellent | $37,095 | Manageable | 85th percentile mobility |
| #24 | Drexel UniversityPrivate | $84,648 | $25,325 | Excellent | $40,932 | Manageable | 94th percentile mobility |
| #25 | $84,276 | $21,000 | Excellent | $22,866 | Good | 97th 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 →
