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A college's earnings reflect who enrolls and what they study as much as what the college teaches.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Samuel Merritt University leads California among colleges for earnings: its former students earn a median of $143k ten years after enrolling, against $53k for the typical college in this list.","minN":500,"rows":[{"n":718,"bar":1,"key":"college:122296","sub":"CA","href":"/higher-education/california/samuel-merritt-university","name":"Samuel Merritt University","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Completion rate","value":"Not available"},{"label":"Net price a year","value":"Not available"},{"label":"Private nonprofit","value":"718 students"}],"value":143238,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$143k"},{"n":921,"bar":0.9682277049386336,"key":"college:115409","sub":"CA","href":"/higher-education/california/harvey-mudd-college","name":"Harvey Mudd College","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Completion rate","value":"92%"},{"label":"Net price a year","value":"$35,924"},{"label":"Private 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