Princeton leads for the second year in a row on LinkedIn’s Top Colleges list, a data-backed ranking of the 50 U.S. colleges that best set up their graduates for long-term career success. Amid steep tuition prices and more questions on the value of a college degree, this list offers a data-driven look at the schools giving their alumni a strong start in today’s job market. The ranking looks at alumni career outcomes, including how quickly grads land jobs, advance into senior leadership and build up their networks.
What skill did college teach you that you use most in your career today? For me, the answer is influence.
In college, I became fascinated by how people form opinions, make decisions, and take action. How ideas spread. How stories resonate. How trust is built. Those questions led me to marketing, but they've shaped nearly every aspect of my career.
For me, influence has never been about followers, views, or engagement. It's the ability to shape outcomes through trust, credibility, communication, and connection. To help people see a new possibility, consider a different perspective, or rally around a shared goal. And by definition, without direct force.
That lesson has stayed with me through every role I've held. In fact, the more leadership responsibility I've gained, the more I've tried to lead as if I don't have authority at all.
In today's era of AI, I think influence matters even more. Technology will evolve. New tools will emerge. Entire ways of working will change. AI may change how we work, but influence remains one of the most human and enduring skills we have.
When I talk about my college experience, I always tell people the same thing: I didn't sit in class learning how to be a journalist.
From freshman year on, I was out in Syracuse reporting. Every semester brought a new beat, and my professors operated more like editors than lecturers. The classroom felt like a newsroom.
We hear a lot that college doesn't prepare you for the real world. I'm lucky mine did, and I think that's what college should do.
It's the thread that's come up again and again in conversations I've had while working on LinkedIn's Top Colleges list. At a time when college is more expensive than ever and information is increasingly free, students are asking: Is college worth it? Where should I go? What should I study? And how do I make the most of the experience?
That's exactly what LinkedIn's Top Colleges aims to help answer. Using data on alumni career outcomes, the list highlights the 50 U.S. colleges whose graduates are best positioned for long-term career success.
What I love most about this year's package is that it goes beyond the rankings. We talked with students and new grads about how they approached college knowing that the old playbook of "go to school, graduate and apply for jobs" doesn't work the way it once did. Today's students are using college as a launchpad to build networks, test ideas and create opportunities long before graduation. (Stay tuned!)
From freshman year on, I was out in Syracuse reporting. Every semester brought a new beat, and my professors operated more like editors than lecturers. The classroom felt like a newsroom.
We hear a lot that college doesn't prepare you for the real world. I'm lucky mine did, and I think that's what college should do.
It's the thread that's come up again and again in conversations I've had while working on LinkedIn's Top Colleges list. At a time when college is more expensive than ever and information is increasingly free, students are asking: Is college worth it? Where should I go? What should I study? And how do I make the most of the experience?
That's exactly what LinkedIn's Top Colleges aims to help answer. Using data on alumni career outcomes, the list highlights the 50 U.S. colleges whose graduates are best positioned for long-term career success.
What I love most about this year's package is that it goes beyond the rankings. We talked with students and new grads about how they approached college knowing that the old playbook of "go to school, graduate and apply for jobs" doesn't work the way it once did. Today's students are using college as a launchpad to build networks, test ideas and create opportunities long before graduation. (Stay tuned!)