Today's savvy student looks at a lot of things when choosing a school: quality of academic programs, available financial aid, activities, housing—and ROI? That's right, entering students look at their return on investment, too. Payscale.com recently released rankings that show what colleges end up paying off the most for graduates. The rankings listed the average starting salary a graduate should expect to receive, based on college. Carnegie Mellon ranked fifth on the list, with a starting median salary of $65,300.

Elizabeth May