Dec 11, 2014 12:38 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Economics is a lucrative professional field and it involves strength in several academic fields, so the best places to receive a degree in that field are some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the U.S.

For College Factual's "Top Colleges for Economics," the Ivy League is represented by five of its eight schools, alongside some other academic heavyweights. According to USA Today, economics students need to have skills in statistics, accounting, calculus, banking and many more.

But economics has many aspects, like microeconomics and macroeconomics, business, developmental and theoretical.

CLICK HERE for the full ranking, and HERE for the methodology.

1.     Duke University

Location: Durham, N.C.

Acceptance rate: 10.8 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $62,000/ $117,000

2.     Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

Acceptance rate: 5.9 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $64,000/ $142,000

3.     Yale University

Location: New Haven, Conn.

Acceptance rate: 6.3 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $55,000/ $135,000

4.     Princeton University

Location: Princeton, N.J.

Acceptance rate: 7.4 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $58,000/ $137,000

5.     Columbia University

Location: New York, N.Y.

Acceptance rate: 6.9 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $62,000/ $122,000

6.     University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, Ill.

Acceptance rate: 8.4 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $56,000/ $96,000

7.     Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Ill.

Acceptance rate: 12.9 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $58,000/ $98,000

8.     Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, N.Y.

Acceptance rate: 14 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $61,000/ $127,000

9.     Brandeis University

Location: Waltham, Mass.

Acceptance rate: 35 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $54,000/ $96,000

10.  Stanford University

Location: Stanford, Calif.

Acceptance rate: 5.1 percent

Avg. starting/ mid-career salary: $64,000/ $125,000

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