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Graduate employability: top universities in the United States ranked by employers 2023-24

US universities producing the most employable graduates have been ranked by companies around the world in the Global University Employability Ranking 2023-24

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November 23 2023
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A total of 51 US universities appear in the Global University Employability Ranking 2023-24, designed by the HR consultancy Emerging and published exclusively by Times Higher Education. The ranking reveals which universities recruiters at top companies think are the best at preparing students for the workplace.

The top 10 includes many of the usual suspects – Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University – but also New York University, which is not always found at the top of university rankings.

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Tuition fees at US colleges vary widely, particularly for international students, so value for money arguably depends on both the cost of tuition and the likelihood that graduates will succeed in their future careers.

A number of state universities in the US, such as the University of California, Berkeley, which generally have lower tuition fees, do particularly well when evaluated by employers.


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Top three universities in the US for graduate employability

1. California Institute of Technology

According to the Caltech website, a high percentage of graduates go straight into the workforce. Many of these students have been recruited on campus.

The Career Development Center at the university provides networking sessions and twice-annual careers fairs to assist students in finding jobs. Some 150 recruiters from various fields are present at each fair.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have helped to develop some of the most innovative technologies of today, such as 3D printing and bionic prostheses.

Among MIT’s alumni are 89 Nobel laureates, 58 National Medal of Science winners and 48 MacArthur fellows.

3. Stanford University

Stanford University is located in Pasadena, California, right next to the world-renowned Silicon Valley.

In total, companies founded by Stanford affiliates and alumni generate more than $2.7 trillion (£21.5 trillion) in annual revenues, which would be the 10th-largest economy in the world. These firms include Google, Nike, Netflix, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Instagram and Charles Schwab.

Stanford alumni have also founded non-profit organisations such as Kiva and SIRUM.


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Top universities in the United States for graduate employability 2023-24

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2024 results

US Employability rank
2023-24
Employability rank 
2023-24
Employability rank
2022-23
University  State
1 1 2 California Institute of Technology California
2 2 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts
3 3 5 Stanford University California
4 5 3 Harvard University Massachusetts
5 6 9 Princeton University New Jersey
6 10 10 Yale University Connecticut
7 16 13 Columbia University New York
8 17 17 New York University New York
9 20 21 University of California, Berkeley California
10 25 22 Boston University Massachusetts
11 26 24 Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania
12 30 26 Duke University North Carolina
13 34 34 Arizona State University (Tempe) Arizona
14 42 38 Johns Hopkins University Maryland
15 49 90 The University of Chicago Illinois
16 54 46 Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia
17 60 74 Dartmouth College New Hampshire
18 77 76 Florida Institute of Technology Florida
19 78 83 Brown University Rhode Island
20 82 80 University of California, Los Angeles California
21 84 77 Cornell University New York
22 107 100 Tufts University Massachusetts
23 109 110 Rice University Texas
24 115 115 Texas A&M University Texas
25 121 121 University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
26 126 143 Boston College Massachusetts
27 138 134 Northwestern University Illinois
28 145 130 Michigan State University Michigan
29 149 148 Northeastern University Illinois
30 151 145 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor  
31 153 150 Georgetown University Washington DC
32 157 176 University of California, San Francisco California
33 163 166 University of Southern California California
34 168 171 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina
35 172 194 Emory University Georgia
36 174 188 University of California, San Diego California
37 176 186 Babson College Massachusetts
38 179 167 University of Florida Florida
39 182 174 Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana
40 183 181 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Illinois
41 188 177 Rutgers University New Jersey
42 194 193 Penn State University (Main campus) Pennsylvania
43 196 189 George Washington University Washington DC
44 197 197 Case Western Reserve University Ohio
45 201 195 University of Georgia Georgia
46 202 203 Vanderbilt University Tennessee
47 224 229 University of Notre Dame Indiana
48 228 NR Washington University in St Louis Washington
49 239 NR University of Massachusetts Amherst Massachusetts
50 243 211 Brandeis University Massachusetts
51 246 NR Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New Jersey
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