The Brookings Institution recently released a new ranking of colleges and universities nationwide, wherein Illinois Institute of Technology ranked fifth, just behind perennial winners the University of Chicago and Northwestern University among local schools based on their graduates’ value-added average mid-career salaries. Illinois Tech also ranked ahead of its bigger rivals for its graduates’ mid-career occupational earnings.

The university landed in the 94th percentile — meaning that it’s near the top and that only 6 percent rank higher — of colleges and universities in graduates’ mid-career earnings (graduates make, on average, $95,000 a year — or 28.9 percent more than the Brookings Institution’s data predicted); 96 percent of graduates repaid their loans within three years of graduation, and graduates’ occupational earnings averaged $76,000 a year.

The university has a natural edge because its graduates are in high demand by employers, but IIT’s success also hinged partly on what the Brookings Institution called “the X factor” — qualities such as the university’s leadership and its alumni network, said Brookings Institution report co-author Siddharth Kulkarni, a senior research assistant, who wrote the report with Brookings Fellow Jonathan Rothwell.

Mike Gosz, IIT vice provost for admissions and financial aid, said in a statement that the ranking “is a testament to the hard work and dedication of IIT’s faculty, staff and students.

“Our top undergraduate job placement and earnings potential for our graduates, along with our rigorous coursework, help to set Illinois Tech apart from other universities,” Gosz said.

For more information on the ranking, click here. To learn more about the Brookings Institution, click here.