The 5 Best Party Schools by Salary Potential

What’s work-life balance look like when you’re a college student? For some, it’s being able to party hearty while still getting a top-rated education, and making a good salary after graduation. If you think you can balance keggers and cramming, PayScale’s College Salary Report shows which four-year schools might just be for you.

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PayScale defines party schools as those identified by the Princeton Review as having the highest percentage of students who said that drugs and alcohol consumption was common at their school, and where students didn’t spend “too many” hours per day studying, and where student life featured fraternities and sororities.

The five schools with the highest salaries for bachelor’s-only grads are:

1. Lehigh University

Early Career Salary: $60,400

Mid-Career Salary: $106,300

High Meaning: 46 percent

STEM Degrees: 37 percent

2. Bucknell University

Early Career Salary: $56,800

Mid-Career Salary: $101,800

High Meaning: 40 percent

STEM Degrees: 30 percent

3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Early Career Salary: $55,000

Mid-Career Salary: $97,100

High Meaning: 52 percent

STEM Degrees: 26 percent

4. University of California – Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Early Career Salary: $47,000

Mid-Career Salary: $96,900

High Meaning: 50 percent

STEM Degrees: 16 percent

5. DePauw University

Early Career Salary: $46,600

Mid-Career Salary: $95,700

High Meaning: 50 percent

STEM Degrees: 17 percent

To see more top party schools, plus a list including alumni who go on to graduate school, look at PayScale’s full list.

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