Big Colleges With Highest Return-on-Investment

College rankings on TheClassroom.com use recent data about four-year colleges from publicly available sources using transparent methodology. This is a ranking of colleges by return-on-investment in descending order. Only colleges that are big are included. See if your school is in the ranking!

Big Colleges With Highest Return-on-Investment

Big Colleges With Highest Return-on-Investment - Complete List

Rank College Return-on-Investment Median Salary Typical Cost
1 California State University-Los Angeles 11.2 $43,900 $3,933
2 California State University-Northridge 6.6 $43,400 $6,574
3 California State University-Fullerton 5.4 $44,500 $8,170
3 University of Washington-Seattle Campus 5.4 $54,800 $10,068
5 California State University-Sacramento 5.2 $47,200 $9,127
6 California State University-Long Beach 4.8 $47,100 $9,867
7 Purdue University-Main Campus 4.7 $55,000 $11,693
8 Brigham Young University-Provo 4.4 $56,800 $12,864
9 Western Governors University 4.3 $38,800 $9,115
10 University of North Texas 4.2 $43,300 $10,424
11 University of California-Los Angeles 4.1 $58,700 $14,236
11 West Virginia University 4.1 $44,000 $10,814
11 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona 4.1 $51,100 $12,598
14 University of California-Irvine 4.0 $55,100 $13,780
14 University of California-San Diego 4.0 $58,600 $14,770
16 University of Maryland-College Park 3.9 $61,700 $15,757
16 Miami Dade College 3.9 $30,000 $7,675
16 San Jose State University 3.9 $53,700 $13,777
19 North Carolina State University at Raleigh 3.8 $49,300 $13,066
20 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 3.7 $60,100 $16,107
20 University of South Florida-Main Campus 3.7 $41,800 $11,398
20 Indiana University-Bloomington 3.7 $46,100 $12,621
23 The University of Texas at San Antonio 3.6 $44,000 $12,107
23 San Francisco State University 3.6 $48,000 $13,250
23 Rutgers University-New Brunswick 3.6 $56,400 $15,614
23 University of California-Berkeley 3.6 $61,800 $17,160
23 University of Florida 3.6 $53,100 $14,761
23 Texas A & M University-College Station 3.6 $55,500 $15,455
23 Iowa State University 3.6 $48,600 $13,623
30 University of Iowa 3.5 $50,200 $14,161
30 University of North Carolina at Charlotte 3.5 $42,700 $12,084
30 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 3.5 $60,500 $17,190
30 Texas State University 3.5 $44,400 $12,647
30 University of California-Davis 3.5 $56,300 $16,039
30 Arizona State University-Tempe 3.5 $45,400 $13,007
30 University of California-Santa Barbara 3.5 $52,500 $15,149
30 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 3.5 $57,600 $16,683
38 Michigan State University 3.4 $51,500 $14,970
38 The University of Texas at Austin 3.4 $54,900 $16,010
38 University of Wisconsin-Madison 3.4 $54,200 $15,874
38 Florida International University 3.4 $44,200 $12,966
38 San Diego State University 3.4 $48,300 $14,344
43 University of Georgia 3.2 $48,500 $14,956
43 Texas Tech University 3.2 $49,300 $15,235
43 University of Houston 3.2 $49,900 $15,571
43 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College 3.2 $47,600 $15,095
47 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 3.1 $49,800 $16,242
48 University of Missouri-Columbia 2.8 $46,100 $16,317
48 University of Central Florida 2.8 $43,300 $15,533
48 University of Arizona 2.8 $45,800 $16,466
48 Colorado State University-Fort Collins 2.8 $45,000 $16,232
52 Washington State University 2.7 $48,600 $17,815
52 Florida State University 2.7 $44,900 $16,506
52 Northern Arizona University 2.7 $39,300 $14,678
55 University of Massachusetts-Amherst 2.5 $49,700 $20,093
56 Ohio State University-Main Campus 2.4 $43,700 $17,971
56 University of Kentucky 2.4 $43,000 $17,850
58 Temple University 2.3 $48,600 $21,237
59 Ashford University 2.2 $40,900 $18,235
59 Auburn University 2.2 $47,100 $21,698
59 University of South Carolina-Columbia 2.2 $43,000 $19,913
62 The University of Alabama 2.1 $42,700 $20,133
62 University of Colorado Boulder 2.1 $48,100 $22,727
62 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 2.1 $43,400 $20,780
62 Virginia Commonwealth University 2.1 $42,200 $20,544
66 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus 2.0 $39,500 $19,978
67 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 1.9 $48,500 $25,055
68 New York University 1.7 $59,600 $35,147
69 Liberty University 1.4 $35,200 $24,794
70 Southern New Hampshire University 1.2 $41,700 $34,984