Is it what you learn or where you learn?

The Washington Post reports.

What’s more telling for future earnings, your college or your major?

There are thousands of colleges and universities for students to choose from, all promising a quality education. Yet it’s clear from the White House’s revised College Scorecard that graduates of some schools fare better in the job market than others. But why?

A new study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce begins to answer that question by looking at the earnings of former students of more than 1,400 four-year colleges and universities. Researchers created three rankings based on aggregate school earnings, institutional quality and academic preparation. The report relies on data from the scorecard and only looks at bachelor’s degree-granting institutions.

Based purely on earnings, Massachusetts Institute of Technology took the crown in the first set of rankings, with students pulling in an annual salary of $91,600 10 years after starting school. In a close second, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, with its pipeline to jobs in the lucrative shipping industry, produces students making $89,000 a year. Harvard University rounds out the top three with students making $87,200 a year a decade after starting school.