No college degree can guarantee you wealth, but a handful of schools have a proven track record of minting rich people, from billionaire founders and CEOs to investors to politicians.
Wealth-X, a firm that does research and valuations on ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals, has revealed where the world's wealthiest people — those with assets exceeding $30 million — went to college.
In its tally, Wealth-X counted alumni with both undergraduate and graduate degrees, counting alumni of multiple institutions more than once, but left out those with diplomas, certificates, honorary degrees, and drop outs. Considering some of the world's richest self-made billionaires dropped out of Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, and other schools on this list, the numbers of UHNW alumni could be even higher had they graduated.
Of the top 20 colleges in the world that produce the wealthiest people, five are public universities, six are Ivy League, and only one is located outside of the US. By and large, Harvard University mints the highest number of millionaires and billionaires, which together command a net worth of $811 billion, more than twice that of the No. 2 school, University of Pennsylvania.
Below, check out the top 20 colleges in the world that have produced the most rich people, along with the total known number of UHNW individuals with degrees from the institutions, and their combined wealth.
20. University of California, Los Angeles
Known UHNW alumni: 235
Combined wealth: $63 billion
19. Boston University
Known UHNW alumni: 241
Combined wealth: $62 billion
18. University of Cambridge
Known UHNW alumni: 271
Combined wealth: $69 billion
17. University of Michigan
Known UHNW alumni: 272
Combined wealth: $141 billion
16. University of Notre Dame
Known UHNW alumni: 277
Combined wealth: $44 billion
15. University of California, Berkeley
Known UHNW alumni: 290
Combined wealth: $125 billion
14. The University of Texas at Austin
Known UHNW alumni: 293
Combined wealth: $71 billion
13. University of Southern California
Known UHNW alumni: 294
Combined wealth: $98 billion
12. University of Virginia
Known UHNW alumni: 300
Combined wealth: $64 billion
11. Cornell University
Known UHNW alumni: 319
Combined wealth: $101 billion
10. Princeton University
Known UHNW alumni: 330
Combined wealth: $188 billion
9. Yale University
Known UHNW alumni: 360
Combined wealth: $156 billion
8. Northwestern University
Known UHNW alumni: 365
Combined wealth: $80 billion
7. University of Chicago
Known UHNW alumni: 371
Combined wealth: $93 billion
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Known UHNW alumni: 375
Combined wealth: $215 billion
5. Stanford University
Known UHNW alumni: 466
Combined wealth: $404 billion
4. New York University
Known UHNW alumni: 488
Combined wealth: $155 billion
3. Columbia University
Known UHNW alumni: 578
Combined wealth: $307 billion
2. University of Pennsylvania
Known UHNW alumni: 832
Combined wealth: $369 billion
1. Harvard University
Known UHNW alumni: 1,906
Combined wealth: $811 billion
