America is home to over 4,000 different colleges and universities, which means that picking the right school requires some due diligence on your part. How much college can you afford? How much money in student loans are you willing to take out? While we don’t necessarily have the answers to those questions, we’ve used salary data to narrow down your options so you can choose from only the colleges that are proven to give you the biggest return on your tuition investment. In other words, these are the colleges that are actually well worth the cost.
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Alabama
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Total Cost: $94,100
ROI on Tuition: $500,000
Alaska
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Total Cost: $69,100
ROI on Tuition: $559,000
Arizona
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott
Total Cost: $188,000
ROI on Tuition: $546,000
Arkansas
University of Arkansas
Total Cost: $90,300
ROI on Tuition: $347,000
California
Harvey Mudd College
Total Cost: $260,000
ROI on Tuition: $962,000
Colorado
Colorado School of Mines
Total Cost: $123,000
ROI on Tuition: $883,000
Connecticut
Yale University
Total Cost: $251,000
ROI on Tuition: $626,000
Delaware
University of Delaware
Total Cost: $103,000
ROI on Tuition: $476,000
District of Columbia
Georgetown University
Total Cost: $254,000
ROI on Tuition: $564,000
Florida
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Total Cost: $189,000
ROI on Tuition: $518,000
Georgia
Georgia Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $96,200
ROI on Tuition: $824,000
Hawaii
Hawaii Pacific University
Total Cost: $148,000
ROI on Tuition: $269,000
Idaho
Brigham Young University-Idaho
Total Cost: $70,500
ROI on Tuition: $581,000
Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Total Cost: $117,000
ROI on Tuition: $561,000
Indiana
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $232,000
ROI on Tuition: $738,000
Iowa
Iowa State University
Total Cost: $76,100
ROI on Tuition: $418,000
Kansas
Ottawa University
Total Cost: $150,000
ROI on Tuition: $470,000
Kentucky
Thomas More College
Total Cost: $155,000
ROI on Tuition: $370,000
Louisiana
Louisiana State University Agricultural & Mechanical College
Total Cost: $94,800
ROI on Tuition: $417,000
Maine
Maine Maritime Academy
Total Cost: $100,000
ROI on Tuition: $725,000
Maryland
Capitol College
Total Cost: $135,000
ROI on Tuition: $653,000
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $240,000
ROI on Tuition: $959,000
Michigan
Kettering University
Total Cost: $208,000
ROI on Tuition: $743,000
Minnesota
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Total Cost: $102,000
ROI on Tuition: $432,000
Mississippi
Mississippi State University
Total Cost: $88,100
ROI on Tuition: $295,000
Missouri
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Total Cost: $87,400
ROI on Tuition: $713,000
Montana
Montana Tech of The University of Montana
Total Cost: $75,700
ROI on Tuition: $612,000
Nebraska
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Total Cost: $90,100
ROI on Tuition: $345,000
Nevada
University of Nevada - Reno
Total Cost: $90,800
ROI on Tuition: $343,000
New Hampshire
Dartmouth College
Total Cost: $257,000
ROI on Tuition: $640,000
New Jersey
Stevens Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $244,000
ROI on Tuition: $800,000
New Mexico
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Total Cost: $76,000
ROI on Tuition: $601,000
New York
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Total Cost: $33,000
ROI on Tuition: $1,056,000
North Carolina
Duke University
Total Cost: $252,000
ROI on Tuition: $633,000
North Dakota
North Dakota State University
Total Cost: $78,600
ROI on Tuition: $400,000
Ohio
Case Western Reserve University
Total Cost: $235,000
ROI on Tuition: $531,000
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
Total Cost: $95,800
ROI on Tuition: $407,000
Oregon
Oregon Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $86,400
ROI on Tuition: $566,000
Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University
Total Cost: $251,000
ROI on Tuition: $678,000
Rhode Island
Brown University
Total Cost: $247,000
ROI on Tuition: $578,000
South Carolina
Clemson University
Total Cost: $114,000
ROI on Tuition: $447,000
South Dakota
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Total Cost: $89,700
ROI on Tuition: $653,000
Tennessee
Vanderbilt University
Total Cost: $247,000
ROI on Tuition: $472,000
Texas
Rice University
Total Cost: $221,000
ROI on Tuition: $624,000
Utah
Brigham Young University - Provo
Total Cost: $70,500
ROI on Tuition: $581,000
Vermont
Middlebury College
Total Cost: $243,000
ROI on Tuition: $324,000
Virginia
Virginia Military Institute
Total Cost: $106,000
ROI on Tuition: $660,000
Washington
University of Washington - Bothell
Total Cost: $109,000
ROI on Tuition: $583,000
West Virginia
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Total Cost: $71,400
ROI on Tuition: $508,000
Wisconsin
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Total Cost: $187,000
ROI on Tuition: $590,000
Wyoming
University of Wyoming
Total Cost: $73,700
ROI on Tuition: $345,000
Tell Us What You Think!
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