CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University not only attracts the best and brightest Oregon high school graduates, its own graduates go on to out-earn those of any other school in the state, new rankings from Seattle-based PayScale Inc. reveal.

The "market leader in global online compensation data with the world's largest database of individual employee compensation profiles," according to its website, PayScale uses a real-time profiling system to track pay for employee attributes and specific job titles.

The company's analysis of colleges and universities in the Western United States showed OSU ranked sixth overall and first in Oregon for the average salary earned by graduates at mid-career: $86,900 (California schools were ranked separately). "Mid-career" is defined as 15 years of work experience. The University of Portland, Pacific University, Reed College and Oregon Institute of Technology trailed OSU among Oregon schools, in that order.

In PayScale's analysis of "best undergraduate college degrees by salary," eight of the top 10 options are engineering degrees, with physics and applied mathematics comprising the other two. OSU offers degree programs in eight of the top 10 areas, including physics and applied mathematics.

Among the top 10 Western schools by mid-career earnings, OSU starting grads outearned only one in starting salaries, with a beginning average wage of nearly $45,000. But graduates' earnings steadily rise at they move into their careers, with OSU trailing only five other campuses by the mid-year measuring point.

In fact, only 16 of the 74 schools ranked showed mid-career earnings of more than $80,000. The Colorado School of Mines and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology led the Western list, at $106,000 and $103,000, respectively.

News of the rankings created a buzz online and among news media in recent days. "Want your children to get the best salary possible after graduating in Oregon," asked the Portland Business Journal. "Then send them to Oregon State University."

