The Headcount

Trinity sends the most of its graduates to Wall Street. Williams sends them to Goldman.

Eleven NESCAC schools, 194,000 alumni, one question: who is working in finance right now. Trinity leads on the broad cut, Williams on the strict one, and the bottom three never move.

J. Scott HamiltonSeptember 24, 20262 min read

14.3% of employed Trinity alumni work in finance today. Tufts and Wesleyan are at 7.4%. That is a two to one spread inside one athletic conference.

We pulled every alumni profile of the eleven NESCAC schools from the workforce.ai panel. 194,000 people. Then we asked one question: how many of them draw a paycheck from a bank, a fund, an asset manager or a venture firm right now.

The answer sorts the league into three tiers. Trinity, Williams, Hamilton and Amherst put 13% or more of their working alumni in finance. Colby, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Bates sit between 10.5% and 12.5%. Connecticut College, Wesleyan and Tufts trail below 10%.

Source: workforce.ai panel

Four ways to count

Share now is the broad cut: six employer industries, from investment banking down to retail banking. Core Wall Street keeps only investment banking, investment management, private equity, venture and capital markets. Ever worked counts anyone who has held a finance job at any point. Recent counts finance jobs started between 2020 and 2024, per thousand alumni.

Williams wins on the strict definition and on the recent one. Trinity wins on the broad one. The bottom three are the same three schools no matter how you cut it.

SchoolShare nowCore Wall StreetEver workedRecent, per 1,000
Trinity14.3%3.7%27.2%128
Williams13.6%4.6%25.5%135
Hamilton13.1%3.0%24.2%111
Amherst13.0%4.4%25.1%132
Colby12.4%3.0%22.6%115
Bowdoin11.5%3.5%22.0%120
Middlebury11.2%3.6%21.4%112
Bates10.6%2.3%19.0%89
Connecticut College9.3%2.0%17.5%76
Wesleyan7.4%2.0%16.2%76
Tufts7.4%2.0%15.9%73
Source: workforce.ai panel

Where they sit

Most banks and asset managers file under Financial Services on their own profiles, so the core columns understate the street. Read the table as mix, not as a census of who is at Goldman.

SchoolInvestment BankingInvestment ManagementVC & PECapital MarketsFinancial ServicesBanking
Trinity0.6%1.9%1.1%0.1%9.9%1.0%
Williams0.8%2.1%1.7%0.1%8.6%0.8%
Hamilton0.5%1.5%0.8%0.1%9.3%1.0%
Amherst0.7%1.7%1.9%0.1%8.3%0.8%
Colby0.5%1.5%1.0%0.1%8.4%1.4%
Bowdoin0.6%1.6%1.2%0.1%7.6%0.9%
Middlebury0.7%1.4%1.4%0.0%7.2%0.8%
Bates0.3%1.0%0.9%0.1%7.4%1.2%
Connecticut College0.3%1.0%0.7%0.1%6.7%0.8%
Wesleyan0.4%0.7%0.7%0.1%5.1%0.5%
Tufts0.3%0.8%0.8%0.0%5.0%0.5%

Who hires them

Top five finance employers of each school's alumni, current jobs. Student investment clubs removed.

SchoolTop employers
TrinityMorgan Stanley 56, JPMorgan 55, Fidelity Investments 34, Bank of America 26, Citi 24
WilliamsGoldman Sachs 59, JPMorgan 53, Morgan Stanley 47, Fidelity Investments 25, UBS 25
HamiltonMorgan Stanley 41, Fidelity Investments 30, Goldman Sachs 29, Citi 25, Wells Fargo 23
AmherstJPMorgan 40, Goldman Sachs 34, Morgan Stanley 29, American Express 18, Capital One 17
ColbyFidelity Investments 56, Bank of America 38, JPMorgan 31, Morgan Stanley 28, Goldman Sachs 27
BowdoinMorgan Stanley 38, Fidelity Investments 31, JPMorgan 24, Goldman Sachs 16, UBS 16
MiddleburyJPMorgan 58, Morgan Stanley 52, Goldman Sachs 50, Bank of America 31, Fidelity Investments 25
BatesFidelity Investments 49, JPMorgan 32, Morgan Stanley 20, Bank of America 13, Citi 13
Connecticut CollegeFidelity Investments 32, Morgan Stanley 30, JPMorgan 28, Bank of America 20, Citi 12
WesleyanJPMorgan 37, Citi 33, Morgan Stanley 31, Fidelity Investments 18, Bank of America 18
TuftsFidelity Investments 112, JPMorgan 87, Morgan Stanley 75, Capital One 57, Citi 48

How we counted

Population. Every profile in the workforce.ai panel listing one of the eleven NESCAC schools in its education history, matched on the exact school name. Trinity is Trinity College in Hartford. Tufts includes its graduate schools, which is why its base is four times Amherst's.

Finance. Six employer industries: Investment Banking, Investment Management, Venture Capital and Private Equity, Capital Markets, Financial Services and Banking. Core Wall Street is the first four.

Share now is alumni with a current finance job divided by alumni with any current job, as of August 2026. Ever worked is any finance job in the profile divided by all alumni. Recent is finance jobs started from January 2020 through December 2024, per 1,000 alumni. 2025 and 2026 are excluded because profiles for the newest jobs are still filling in.

SchoolAlumni in sampleEmployedIn financeCoreEverRecent jobs
Trinity14,90112,9401,8474814,0521,911
Williams15,11913,0281,7736003,8482,043
Hamilton13,52811,8541,5543543,2731,505
Amherst12,22810,5751,3764653,0721,616
Colby13,55911,7231,4533553,0581,558
Bowdoin12,12510,5131,2123632,6731,455
Middlebury22,29019,3232,1576884,7642,506
Bates11,56910,0811,0722312,1991,034
Connecticut College12,39710,6879962152,172940
Wesleyan21,33418,5661,3803663,4471,614
Tufts49,21442,9963,1848627,8443,599
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