Which colleges have the best return on investment?

Colleges with the best ROI are those that balance cost of attendance with high graduate earnings. Institutions like University of Texas at Arlington demonstrate high overall graduate success with an average across-major salary of $72,364 within 5 years.

How do you measure a college's ROI?

We measure ROI by comparing the total cost of attendance against the median verified earnings of graduates at 1, 5, and 10 years, using official US Census PSEO data.

College & Degree Rankings

We averaged the median salaries across all measured bachelor's degree programs at each institution to find the schools whose graduates earn the most overall.

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Rank	Institution	Avg Salary Across Majors (5-Yr)
#51	University of Texas at Arlington TX • Based on 52 majors	$72,364
#52	University of Wisconsin - Madison WI • Based on 99 majors	$72,341
#53	Frank Phillips College TX • Based on 6 majors	$72,305
#54	University of Utah UT • Based on 54 majors	$72,233
#55	Connecticut College CT • Based on 12 majors	$72,091
#56	City College of New York - CUNY NY • Based on 38 majors	$71,932
#57	New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York NY • Based on 39 majors	$71,664
#58	CUNY York College NY • Based on 29 majors	$71,631
#59	College of William & Mary VA • Based on 29 majors	$71,567
#60	University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill NC • Based on 49 majors	$71,527
#61	University of Oklahoma OK • Based on 38 majors	$71,407
#62	Arizona State University AZ • Based on 103 majors	$71,301
#63	James Madison University VA • Based on 45 majors	$71,244
#64	Weber State University UT • Based on 51 majors	$71,194
#65	University of Houston - Clear Lake TX • Based on 33 majors	$71,090
#66	Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina SC • Based on 13 majors	$71,089
#67	Saint John's University MN • Based on 20 majors	$70,789
#68	Clemson University SC • Based on 61 majors	$70,786
#69	Carleton College MN • Based on 17 majors	$70,624
#70	Worcester State University MA • Based on 20 majors	$70,425
#71	University of Houston - Downtown TX • Based on 32 majors	$70,380
#72	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities MN • Based on 102 majors	$70,356
#73	University of Saint Thomas MN • Based on 43 majors	$70,141
#74	Lee College TX • Based on 29 majors	$70,111
#75	University of Hartford CT • Based on 31 majors	$69,907
#76	Wabash College IN • Based on 8 majors	$69,843
#77	Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center LA • Based on 6 majors	$69,747
#78	Pennsylvania State University (The) - Erie, The Behrend College PA • Based on 33 majors	$69,622
#79	West Virginia University - Institute of Technology WV • Based on 16 majors	$69,386
#80	Central Connecticut State University CT • Based on 51 majors	$69,302
#81	University of Alabama in Huntsville AL • Based on 30 majors	$68,955
#82	Oklahoma State University OK • Based on 37 majors	$68,903
#83	Miami University OH • Based on 88 majors	$68,876
#84	State University of New York Polytechnic Institute NY • Based on 21 majors	$68,751
#85	Oregon State University OR • Based on 78 majors	$68,706
#86	CUNY Hunter College NY • Based on 35 majors	$68,653
#87	University of Arizona (The) AZ • Based on 87 majors	$68,498
#88	University of Colorado Boulder CO • Based on 59 majors	$68,428
#89	DePaul University IL • Based on 48 majors	$68,333
#90	Empire State University NY • Based on 21 majors	$68,217
#91	University of New Haven CT • Based on 7 majors	$68,136
#92	Framingham State University MA • Based on 19 majors	$68,014
#93	Utah Valley University UT • Based on 57 majors	$67,998
#94	Loyola University Chicago IL • Based on 48 majors	$67,934
#95	Louisiana State University & Agricultural & Mechanical College LA • Based on 68 majors	$67,889
#96	West Virginia University WV • Based on 63 majors	$67,889
#97	Galveston College TX • Based on 7 majors	$67,686
#98	University of Illinois Chicago IL • Based on 51 majors	$67,602
#99	North Carolina State University NC • Based on 77 majors	$67,559
#100	State University of New York at Buffalo NY • Based on 50 majors	$67,501