Best ROI: Liberal Arts and Sciences

Schools offering Liberal Arts and Sciences ranked by overall ROI score. The average graduate in this field earns $39,670 four years after graduation. These are the schools where this major delivers the strongest financial return.

50 schools ranked

#	School	ROI	Net Price	10yr Earnings	Median Debt	Completion	Tier
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	99	$20,111	$143,372	$14,768	96.4%	Exceptional
2	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	98	$14,860	$91,885	$15,000	95.9%	Exceptional
3	Yale University New Haven, CT	97	$23,777	$100,533	$12,975	95.7%	Exceptional
4	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	97	$26,780	$99,980	$19,000	95.2%	Exceptional
5	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	97	$31,944	$114,862	$21,750	94.1%	Exceptional
6	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	96	$16,665	$90,768	$18,500	86.4%	Exceptional
7	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	96	$21,590	$102,491	$21,500	96.1%	Exceptional
8	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	96	$28,690	$104,043	$14,000	95.4%	Exceptional
9	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	95	$13,138	$83,648	$19,500	93.2%	Exceptional
10	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	94	$29,167	$89,363	$15,000	95.1%	Exceptional
11	Bentley University Waltham, MA	94	$37,930	$120,959	$25,023	86.8%	Exceptional
12	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	94	$11,655	$72,200	$14,000	91.2%	Exceptional
13	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	94	$15,564	$75,790	$11,069	81.0%	Exceptional
14	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	94	$14,091	$78,466	$14,615	85.2%	Exceptional
15	Georgetown University Washington, DC	93	$40,815	$103,494	$15,500	94.8%	Exceptional
16	Emory University Atlanta, GA	92	$22,585	$80,137	$18,250	91.1%	Exceptional
17	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	92	$3,033	$75,971	$11,512	72.1%	Exceptional
18	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	91	$32,740	$92,498	$18,000	91.8%	Exceptional
19	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	91	$12,319	$78,466	$14,615	65.3%	Exceptional
20	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA	91	$10,163	$78,466	$14,615	63.2%	Exceptional
21	Boston University Boston, MA	90	$24,402	$83,238	$23,250	88.7%	Exceptional
22	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	90	$19,857	$75,121	$20,500	88.9%	Exceptional
23	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	89	$11,531	$71,902	$16,000	68.4%	Strong
24	Villanova University Villanova, PA	89	$43,756	$100,423	$25,874	91.9%	Strong
25	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX	89	$21,315	$72,097	$17,804	83.9%	Strong
26	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	88	$6,555	$62,951	$13,750	70.2%	Strong
27	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	88	$30,365	$86,522	$22,940	83.7%	Strong
28	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	88	$16,778	$69,020	$19,500	85.3%	Strong
29	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	87	$17,303	$68,758	$20,121	84.8%	Strong
30	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	87	$13,807	$73,997	$21,500	61.6%	Strong
31	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	87	$16,403	$73,997	$21,500	65.0%	Strong
32	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	86	$10,440	$64,403	$14,289	68.9%	Strong
33	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA	86	$29,689	$86,881	$25,500	78.8%	Strong
34	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	86	$17,915	$76,343	$19,500	67.8%	Strong
35	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	85	$25,097	$73,997	$21,500	83.3%	Strong
36	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	85	$30,177	$73,897	$17,000	92.6%	Strong
37	Union College Schenectady, NY	85	$34,561	$88,604	$25,337	80.4%	Strong
38	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	85	$10,875	$73,997	$21,500	52.7%	Strong
39	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	84	$15,364	$64,909	$15,000	76.4%	Strong
40	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	84	$16,264	$63,742	$19,509	80.2%	Strong
41	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ	84	$18,745	$74,479	$21,500	66.7%	Strong
42	New York University New York, NY	84	$37,050	$82,509	$20,500	87.6%	Strong
43	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	84	$23,322	$69,954	$20,093	79.7%	Strong
44	Washington State University Pullman, WA	84	$14,971	$68,905	$19,500	60.5%	Strong
45	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	84	$16,798	$73,997	$21,500	56.5%	Strong
46	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	83	$9,338	$64,876	$15,000	56.3%	Strong
47	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	83	$14,304	$67,699	$17,500	76.0%	Strong
48	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	83	$11,297	$61,675	$18,000	85.6%	Strong
49	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	83	$17,648	$62,830	$17,500	88.1%	Strong
50	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	83	$22,383	$71,631	$22,763	83.3%	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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Best ROI: Liberal Arts and Sciences

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