Best ROI: Under $20,000/year Net Price

Strong-outcome schools that cost under $20,000/year after aid. Proof you don't have to spend a fortune to come out ahead.

50 schools ranked

Data: 2024-25 College Scorecard release

#	School	ROI	Net Price	10yr Earnings	Median Debt	Completion	Tier
1	Stanford University Stanford, CA	99	$13,807	$124,080	$12,000	91.9%	Exceptional
2	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	98	$14,860	$91,885	$15,000	95.9%	Exceptional
3	Rice University Houston, TX	98	$13,370	$89,718	$11,000	94.6%	Exceptional
4	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	97	$13,481	$92,446	$13,000	92.8%	Exceptional
5	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	97	$12,116	$102,772	$21,672	94.0%	Exceptional
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	97	$15,846	$91,565	$14,000	93.5%	Exceptional
7	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	96	$16,665	$90,768	$18,500	86.4%	Exceptional
8	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	96	$12,548	$82,511	$14,000	92.6%	Exceptional
9	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	96	$12,470	$84,943	$15,500	86.1%	Exceptional
10	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	96	$18,809	$87,555	$10,250	93.8%	Exceptional
11	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	96	$19,066	$101,817	$14,000	97.6%	Exceptional
12	Williams College Williamstown, MA	96	$17,716	$88,665	$12,761	93.6%	Exceptional
13	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	95	$14,741	$80,838	$13,000	85.7%	Exceptional
14	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	95	$13,138	$83,648	$19,500	93.2%	Exceptional
15	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	94	$16,075	$128,566	N/A	94.4%	Exceptional
16	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	94	$14,251	$80,735	$15,000	86.9%	Exceptional
17	Colby College Waterville, ME	94	$17,180	$80,490	$19,157	88.8%	Exceptional
18	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	94	$15,678	$82,860	$19,000	88.6%	Exceptional
19	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	94	$6,128	$110,066	$10,320	97.6%	Exceptional
20	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY	94	$13,269	$83,847	$15,000	81.1%	Exceptional
21	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	94	$11,655	$72,200	$14,000	91.2%	Exceptional
22	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	94	$15,564	$75,790	$11,069	81.0%	Exceptional
23	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	94	$14,091	$78,466	$14,615	85.2%	Exceptional
24	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	93	$14,355	$81,054	$19,500	85.1%	Exceptional
25	United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY	93	$6,174	$90,610	$8,833	82.4%	Exceptional
26	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	92	$6,541	$71,588	$15,000	91.1%	Exceptional
27	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	92	$18,425	$82,592	$25,000	75.2%	Exceptional
28	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	92	$14,398	$82,735	$18,500	95.3%	Exceptional
29	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	92	$16,504	$84,276	$21,000	72.8%	Exceptional
30	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	92	$3,033	$75,971	$11,512	72.1%	Exceptional
31	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	91	$13,760	$78,988	$15,000	69.2%	Exceptional
32	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	91	$19,096	$73,490	$18,500	89.4%	Exceptional
33	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	91	$17,354	$73,792	$20,484	89.5%	Exceptional
34	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	91	$14,600	$72,424	$19,500	83.1%	Exceptional
35	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	91	$12,319	$78,466	$14,615	65.3%	Exceptional
36	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA	91	$10,163	$78,466	$14,615	63.2%	Exceptional
37	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL	91	$4,815	$71,588	$15,000	84.7%	Exceptional
38	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	90	$16,109	$74,915	$13,993	83.0%	Exceptional
39	Pomona College Claremont, CA	90	$19,285	$77,779	$11,782	93.2%	Exceptional
40	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	90	$16,298	$82,957	$23,250	64.4%	Exceptional
41	Davidson College Davidson, NC	90	$17,379	$81,400	$18,688	91.1%	Exceptional
42	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	90	$19,857	$75,121	$20,500	88.9%	Exceptional
43	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	89	$11,531	$71,902	$16,000	68.4%	Strong
44	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI	89	$14,182	$78,198	$24,990	68.1%	Strong
45	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM	89	$9,873	$76,489	$19,085	57.0%	Strong
46	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	88	$6,555	$62,951	$13,750	70.2%	Strong
47	University of Georgia Athens, GA	88	$13,936	$68,726	$18,500	89.7%	Strong
48	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	88	$16,778	$69,020	$19,500	85.3%	Strong
49	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	88	$17,113	$77,369	$22,996	76.2%	Strong
50	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	87	$18,784	$74,502	$18,228	75.6%	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 college for ROI under $20,000 a year?

Stanford University tops this list at 99/100 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?

California Institute of Technology reports the highest median earnings here, about $128,566 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?

CUNY Bernard M Baruch College carries the lowest net price among the ranked schools, about $3,033 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.