These American universities have the most rich graduates

02 Aug 2019

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.

Tomorrow at #ApraPD2019, members of our team will discuss the different tiers of wealth, how wealth in these tiers will flow to a new generation over the next decade, and how non-profits can leverage this data to address common challenges when prospecting the wealthy. #wealth

— Wealth-X (@WealthX) July 31, 2019

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)

Harvard is in an Ivy League of its own, with more than 13,650 estimated ultra-high-net-worth alumni worth $4.769 trillion, @WealthX reports. https://t.co/xeB8n4tyN5 pic.twitter.com/PISNiRiulP

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) July 31, 2019