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Best ROI (Earnings vs Cost)

Schools where post-grad earnings cover 4 years of attendance fastest. Lower years-to-payback = better value. State flagships and engineering schools tend to dominate. Federal Scorecard earnings + cost-of-attendance.

Showing top 75 schools where Scorecard has populated earnings + cost data. Schools without federal earnings data (newer or smaller institutions) won't appear here.

#SchoolLocation Years to payback10-yr earnings4-yr cost Type
#1 United States Military Academy New York 0.4 yrs$90K$36K public View
#2 United States Naval Academy Maryland 0.4 yrs$90K$36K public View
#3 United States Air Force Academy Colorado 0.4 yrs$90K$36K public View
#4 United States Coast Guard Academy Connecticut 0.4 yrs$90K$36K public View
#5 CUNY Baruch College New York 0.7 yrs$75K$56K public View
#6 New Mexico State University New Mexico 0.9 yrs$39K$34K public View
#7 New Mexico Tech New Mexico 1.1 yrs$34K$37K public View
#8 Georgia Tech Atlanta, Georgia 1.1 yrs$102K$112K public View
#9 California State University Fullerton California 1.2 yrs$62K$73K public View
#10 BYU Utah 1.2 yrs$75K$90K private View
#11 California State University Los Angeles California 1.2 yrs$59K$73K public View
#12 University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 1.3 yrs$71K$90K public View
#13 Purdue Northwest Indiana 1.3 yrs$48K$62K public View
#14 Wright State University Ohio 1.3 yrs$49K$65K public View
#15 Cal Poly Pomona California 1.3 yrs$71K$95K public View
#16 San Jose State San Jose, California 1.3 yrs$78K$106K public View
#17 Purdue West Lafayette, Indiana 1.4 yrs$72K$98K public View
#18 South Dakota School of Mines & Technology South Dakota 1.4 yrs$72K$101K public View
#19 Cal State Long Beach Long Beach, California 1.4 yrs$64K$90K public View
#20 University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 1.4 yrs$82K$117K public View
#21 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California 1.4 yrs$90K$129K public View
#22 Florida International Florida 1.4 yrs$60K$85K public View
#23 UNLV Nevada 1.4 yrs$55K$78K public View
#24 Belmont Tennessee 1.4 yrs$35K$50K private View
#25 UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 1.4 yrs$72K$104K public View
#26 University of North Florida Florida 1.5 yrs$56K$83K public View
#27 Portland State University Oregon 1.5 yrs$57K$86K public View
#28 Sacramento State California 1.5 yrs$42K$63K public View
#29 George Mason Fairfax, Virginia 1.5 yrs$76K$114K public View
#30 Iowa State Ames, Iowa 1.5 yrs$63K$96K public View
#31 Florida Atlantic Florida 1.5 yrs$56K$86K public View
#32 University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 1.5 yrs$67K$102K public View
#33 Florida Gulf Coast University Florida 1.5 yrs$54K$83K public View
#34 NC State North Carolina 1.5 yrs$68K$105K public View
#35 University of Colorado Denver Colorado 1.5 yrs$64K$99K public View
#36 University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 1.6 yrs$73K$114K public View
#37 San Francisco State University California 1.6 yrs$68K$105K public View
#38 University of Texas at El Paso Texas 1.6 yrs$50K$79K public View
#39 NJIT New Jersey 1.6 yrs$84K$131K public View
#40 UTSA Texas 1.6 yrs$57K$89K public View
#41 University of South Florida Florida 1.6 yrs$57K$91K public View
#42 University of Central Florida Florida 1.6 yrs$58K$92K public View
#43 University of Texas at Arlington Texas 1.6 yrs$63K$101K public View
#44 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 1.6 yrs$68K$110K public View
#45 Washington State Washington 1.6 yrs$68K$110K public View
#46 UNC Charlotte North Carolina 1.6 yrs$57K$92K public View
#47 University of North Dakota North Dakota 1.6 yrs$63K$102K public View
#48 University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 1.6 yrs$68K$111K public View
#49 UMBC Maryland 1.6 yrs$69K$114K public View
#50 Stony Brook Stony Brook, New York 1.6 yrs$74K$122K public View
#51 SUNY Geneseo New York 1.6 yrs$67K$110K public View
#52 University of Washington Seattle, Washington 1.7 yrs$78K$129K public View
#53 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Wisconsin 1.7 yrs$54K$91K public View
#54 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 1.7 yrs$83K$138K public View
#55 University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 1.7 yrs$75K$124K public View
#56 Colorado Mines Colorado 1.7 yrs$97K$162K public View
#57 Florida State Tallahassee, Florida 1.7 yrs$61K$102K public View
#58 Kennesaw State University Georgia 1.7 yrs$57K$96K public View
#59 University of Houston Houston, Texas 1.7 yrs$62K$104K public View
#60 Wichita State University Kansas 1.7 yrs$51K$87K public View
#61 SUNY Albany New York 1.7 yrs$67K$115K public View
#62 University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 1.7 yrs$72K$123K public View
#63 University of Nevada-Reno Nevada 1.7 yrs$60K$103K public View
#64 San Diego State San Diego, California 1.7 yrs$64K$111K public View
#65 Fashion Institute of Technology New York 1.7 yrs$62K$107K public View
#66 University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 1.7 yrs$61K$107K public View
#67 East Carolina North Carolina 1.7 yrs$55K$95K public View
#68 University of Idaho Idaho 1.7 yrs$54K$94K public View
#69 University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 1.7 yrs$69K$120K public View
#70 University of Wyoming Wyoming 1.7 yrs$56K$99K public View
#71 Ramapo College of New Jersey New Jersey 1.7 yrs$67K$117K public View
#72 Michigan Tech Michigan 1.7 yrs$78K$136K public View
#73 UT Dallas Texas 1.7 yrs$68K$119K public View
#74 Texas Tech Texas 1.8 yrs$62K$109K public View
#75 University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 1.8 yrs$64K$114K public View
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