These American universities have the most rich graduates
Harvard has the highest number of rich graduates out of these American universities. Source: Shutterstock

It pays to graduate from Harvard University – literally. 

Based on research firm Wealth-X’s University Ultra High Net Worth Alumni Rankings 2019 report, Harvard has the highest ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) alumni. The Ivy League has an estimated 13,650 UHNW graduates worth a whopping US$4.769 trillion.

Already in its third edition, Wealth-X’s report identifies universities with the highest number of UHNW alumni – defined as those with a net worth of greater than US$30 million – both in the US and abroad.


This is done by collecting a sample of ultra-wealthy individuals with a diploma, including both undergraduate and graduate degrees from colleges and universities around the world, tallying their total wealth as a group, notes CNBC Make It

Following this, researchers use this sample and Wealth-X’s database to estimate how many UHNW alumni each school has graduated in total.

While Harvard graduates are among the world’s richest, attending the institution also comes with a hefty price tag. According to its website, the cost of tuition for the 2019-2020 academic year is US$47,730, but students may end up paying as much as US$78,200 after factoring in other fees, including room and board. 

Here are the top 10 American universities producing the richest graduates:

2019 rank University
1 Harvard University
2 Stanford University
3 University of Pennsylvania
4 Columbia University
5 New York University
6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
7 Northwestern University
8 University of Southern California
9 University of Chicago
10 Yale University

Private universities primarily dominate the top 10. New York University (NYU) is a new entrant in the list, while Yale University slipped down three spots from last year to 10th place. 

Five public American universities made it into the top 20 by number of UHNW alumni. This includes:

  • University of California at Berkeley (2,385 worth US$760 billion)
  • University of Michigan (1,970 alumni worth US$691)
  • University of California Los Angeles (1,945 worth  US$375 billion)
  • University of Texas at Austin (2,195 alumni worth  US$463 billion) 
  • University of Virginia (1,650 alumni worth US$277 billion)


As for the global top 20 universities by number of UHNW alumni, only three institutions outside the US were listed:

  • University of Cambridge in the UK (2,760 worth US$390 billion)
  • University of Oxford in the UK (2,290 worth US$349 billion)
  • INSEAD in France (1,965 worth US$356 billion)

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