Starting Off Right: Rose-Hulman alumni with just a bachelor's degree had median salaries in their first five years of work that ranked 10th nationally across all professions in PayScale.com's 2016-17 Salary Survey.

The success of Rose-Hulman alumni during the early stages of their professional careers has put the institute among the top 10 U.S. colleges in PayScale.com's 2016-17 Salary Survey, based on an examination of data from millions of graduates across all industries.

For college graduates with just a bachelor's degree in their major, Rose-Hulman alumni had a median salary of $67,500 within the first five years of their careers, placing it 10^th in that category of the survey-above Princeton University ($65,700), Georgia Institute of Technology ($65,300), Harvard University ($65,200), Cornell University ($63,200), and Rice University ($62,300).

In comparing alumni with 10 or more years of career experience across all disciplines, Rose-Hulman tied for 36^th in the bachelor's-only degree category, with a mid-career pay median of $108,000. That placed the institute highest among Indiana colleges and universities, ahead of the University of Notre Dame (45^th, $104,000), DePauw University (88^th, $95,100), and Purdue University (98^th, $94,200).

PayScale noted that colleges producing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career fields tend to have the highest-earning alumni.

This marked the fifth consecutive year that Rose-Hulman has ranked high in PayScale's annual salary survey. The institute also has been ranked in the website's annual Return On Investment Report, placing 18^th in 2016 with a net 20-year return of $769,000.