Best ROI: Schools Over 20,000 Students

Big universities (over 20,000 students) that still deliver on value - where the scale of a major public doesn't cost you the payoff.

50 schools ranked

Data: 2024-25 College Scorecard release

#	School	ROI	Net Price	10yr Earnings	Median Debt	Completion	Tier
1	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	97	$13,481	$92,446	$13,000	92.8%	Exceptional
2	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	96	$16,665	$90,768	$18,500	86.4%	Exceptional
3	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	96	$12,548	$82,511	$14,000	92.6%	Exceptional
4	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	96	$12,470	$84,943	$15,500	86.1%	Exceptional
5	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	95	$14,741	$80,838	$13,000	85.7%	Exceptional
6	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	95	$13,138	$83,648	$19,500	93.2%	Exceptional
7	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	94	$15,564	$75,790	$11,069	81.0%	Exceptional
8	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	94	$14,251	$80,735	$15,000	86.9%	Exceptional
9	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	94	$15,678	$82,860	$19,000	88.6%	Exceptional
10	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	94	$11,655	$72,200	$14,000	91.2%	Exceptional
11	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	94	$14,091	$78,466	$14,615	85.2%	Exceptional
12	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	93	$14,355	$81,054	$19,500	85.1%	Exceptional
13	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	92	$6,541	$71,588	$15,000	91.1%	Exceptional
14	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	91	$14,600	$72,424	$19,500	83.1%	Exceptional
15	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	91	$13,760	$78,988	$15,000	69.2%	Exceptional
16	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	91	$32,740	$92,498	$18,000	91.8%	Exceptional
17	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	91	$17,354	$73,792	$20,484	89.5%	Exceptional
18	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	90	$19,857	$75,121	$20,500	88.9%	Exceptional
19	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	90	$16,109	$74,915	$13,993	83.0%	Exceptional
20	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	89	$11,531	$71,902	$16,000	68.4%	Strong
21	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX	89	$21,315	$72,097	$17,804	83.9%	Strong
22	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	89	$24,953	$81,698	$21,500	86.2%	Strong
23	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	88	$6,555	$62,951	$13,750	70.2%	Strong
24	University of Georgia Athens, GA	88	$13,936	$68,726	$18,500	89.7%	Strong
25	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	88	$16,778	$69,020	$19,500	85.3%	Strong
26	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	87	$17,303	$68,758	$20,121	84.8%	Strong
27	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	86	$10,440	$64,403	$14,289	68.9%	Strong
28	Clemson University Clemson, SC	86	$22,253	$71,513	$21,500	86.6%	Strong
29	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	86	$17,915	$76,343	$19,500	67.8%	Strong
30	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	85	$10,974	$68,740	$16,704	61.6%	Strong
31	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	84	$16,264	$63,742	$19,509	80.2%	Strong
32	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	84	$23,322	$69,954	$20,093	79.7%	Strong
33	New York University New York, NY	84	$37,050	$82,509	$20,500	87.6%	Strong
34	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	84	$15,364	$64,909	$15,000	76.4%	Strong
35	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX	84	$18,267	$68,227	$18,000	75.7%	Strong
36	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	84	$16,200	$67,170	$19,000	65.0%	Strong
37	Washington State University Pullman, WA	84	$14,971	$68,905	$19,500	60.5%	Strong
38	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	83	$9,338	$64,876	$15,000	56.3%	Strong
39	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	83	$11,297	$61,675	$18,000	85.6%	Strong
40	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	83	$24,406	$74,479	$21,500	83.6%	Strong
41	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY	83	$20,995	$70,814	$19,000	75.2%	Strong
42	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	83	$14,304	$67,699	$17,500	76.0%	Strong
43	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	83	$22,383	$71,631	$22,763	83.3%	Strong
44	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK	83	$15,300	$63,126	$20,654	75.3%	Strong
45	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	81	$7,000	$61,244	$14,505	57.0%	Strong
46	Florida International University Miami, FL	81	$9,288	$60,249	$16,500	74.4%	Strong
47	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	80	$7,021	$59,115	$13,872	57.0%	Strong
48	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	80	$25,346	$69,738	$19,500	74.2%	Strong
49	University of Houston Houston, TX	80	$14,276	$62,377	$18,194	64.6%	Strong
50	Iowa State University Ames, IA	79	$18,589	$63,386	$22,869	75.3%	Strong

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How We Rank

Rankings are based on our ROI score (0-100), which weights five quantifiable factors: Earnings Premium (30%), Payback Period (25%), Debt-to-Earnings (20%), Completion Rate (15%), and Loan Repayment (10%). All data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. No subjective criteria are used.

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Common Questions

What is the best large university for ROI?

University of California-Berkeley tops this list at 97/100 on our ROI scale, the highest among the 50 schools ranked here. Rankings weigh net price against median graduate earnings from U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data - no prestige guesswork.

Which school on this list has the highest graduate earnings?

University of Southern California reports the highest median earnings here, about $92,498 ten years after enrollment. In our view higher earnings alone don't make the best value, since what you pay matters just as much - which is why the ranking weighs cost too.

What is the most affordable school on this list?

University of Florida carries the lowest net price among the ranked schools, about $6,541 a year after grants and scholarships. Net price is what students actually pay, not the published sticker price.

How are these schools ranked?

We score every school 0 to 100 on five quantifiable factors: earnings premium (30%), payback period (25%), debt-to-earnings (20%), completion rate (15%), and loan repayment (10%). All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, with no subjective reputation scoring. Of the 50 schools here, 50 earn an ROI score of 60 or higher.