15 Colleges Whose Grads Net the Highest Salaries PART 1: Top 5 Public Universities

These 15 schools get students off to the best financial start after graduation. Money Watch calculates this list by balancing graduates' salaries with the average amount of debt they graduate in.

They did this by looking at the college's alums in two groups: group 1 consisted of students 2 years after graduation and group 2 consisted of alums out 15 years and mid-career. Here are the top 5 schools on their list regardless of institution type:

Georgia Institute of Technology

2009 Tuition: $87,810

Class of 2009 Median Pay: $57,300

1996 Tuition: $27,867

Class of 1996 Median Pay: $105,000

University of Texas - Austin

2009 Tuition: $91,596

Class of 2009 Median Pay: $49,100

1996 Tuition: $26,115

Class of 1996 Median Pay: $87,500

University of Florida

2009 Tuition: $73,476

Class of 2009 Median Pay: $45,200

1996 Tuition: $26,221

Class of 1996 Median Pay: $84,300

University of Georgia

2009 Tuition: $77,957

Class of 2009 Median Pay: $42,100

1996 Tuition: $24,767

Class of 1996 Median Pay: $78,400

University of Illinois

2009 Tuition: $91,382

Class of 2009 Median Pay: $51,500

1996 Tuition: $33,808

Class of 1996 Median Pay: $96,500

Check back to see the next two installments of this list: the top 5 Ivies and the top 5 private colleges!

Image Sources: GATech; UTAustin; Florida; UGA; Illinois