RANKED: The 50 most underrrated colleges in America

By Myelle Lansat and Andy Kiersz
Business Insider

Whether a student is more inclined to learn about artificial intelligence or take up photography, several factors play a role in choosing the right college.

Business Insider has complied a ranking of the top 50 underrated colleges nationwide by considering two factors: reputation and future earnings. We figured that schools with mediocre or obscure reputations but whose students made high salaries would be underrated.

To determine our ranking, we combined the mutually exclusive sets of Best Universities and Best Liberal Arts Colleges from The US News & World Report's annual college ranking. We pulled data on median earnings for students from each school who were working and not enrolled ten years after starting at the college from the US Department of Education's College Scorecard. You can read the full methodology here.

The Missouri University of Science & Technology took the No. 1 spot. The campus has an atmosphere students described as a less stereotypical Big Bang Theory episode, according to The Princeton Review.

Keep reading to find out the 50 most underrated colleges.

Location: Denver, Colorado

US News ranking: 205

Median mid-career salary: $56,400

University of Colorado-Denver's in-state tuition is low at $5,054, while out-of-state tuition is $17,010, according to The Princeton Review.