The 50 most underrated colleges in America

We often hear about the best colleges in the US, but there are dozens more outstanding schools that don't always get the recognition they deserve.

To discover the most underrated colleges in America, we compared U.S. News' rankings of the best universities and the best liberal arts colleges in the country with PayScale's 2015-2016 College Salary Report, which ranked more than 1,000 colleges and universities based on their graduates' mid-career salaries.

We considered two factors: reputation and future earnings, specifically looking for schools that had relatively low rankings on the U.S. News list but high mid-career salaries. You can read the full methodology here.

Pace University topped the list, with Missouri University of Science and Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology rounding out the top three.

Scroll down to learn more about the 50 most underrated colleges in America.

Additional reporting by Melissa Stanger.

Find out how your salary stacks up on PayScale.