Best ROI: All Schools

The top 50 schools in America by financial return on investment. These institutions deliver the highest earnings relative to cost.

50 schools ranked

#SchoolROI
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
99
2Stanford University
Stanford, CA
99
3University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
98
4Rice University
Houston, TX
98
5University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
97
6Yale University
New Haven, CT
97
7Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Atlanta, GA
97
8University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
97
9Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
97
10University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
97
11Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
97
12California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA
96
13University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
96
14University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, CA
96
15Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
96
16Babson College
Wellesley, MA
96
17Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
96
18Williams College
Williamstown, MA
96
19Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, MO
96
20Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
96
21Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
96
22Duke University
Durham, NC
96
23Brown University
Providence, RI
96
24University of California-Davis
Davis, CA
95
25University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
95
26Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
95
27University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA
95
28California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
94
29University of California-Irvine
Irvine, CA
94
30Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
94
31Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
94
32Colby College
Waterville, ME
94
33University of Maryland-College Park
College Park, MD
94
34Bentley University
Waltham, MA
94
35Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA
94
36Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
94
37Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Albany, NY
94
38The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
New York, NY
94
39University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
94
40Brigham Young University
Provo, UT
94
41University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA
94
42Georgetown University
Washington, DC
93
43University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
93
44Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
93
45United States Merchant Marine Academy
Kings Point, NY
93
46Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
93
47Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA
92
48Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA
92
49University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
92
50Emory University
Atlanta, GA
92

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.

Full methodology →