Best ROI 4-Year Colleges

These are the best ROI 4-year colleges, ranked by earnings-to-cost ratio (ROI). The ranking includes 100 institutions, with CUNY Bernard M Baruch College leading at 6.3x.

Rank Institution State ROI
1 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY 6.3x
2 CUNY Hunter College NY 5.3x
3 CUNY Brooklyn College NY 4.9x
4 CUNY Lehman College NY 4.6x
5 Princeton University NJ 4.5x
6 CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice NY 4.4x
7 CUNY City College NY 4.4x
8 CUNY Queens College NY 3.7x
9 California State University-Los Angeles CA 3.7x
10 University of Florida-Online FL 3.7x
11 United States Merchant Marine Academy NY 3.7x
12 Texas A & M International University TX 3.3x
13 California State University-San Bernardino CA 3.3x
14 CUNY York College NY 3.2x
15 Indiana University-Kokomo IN 3.1x
16 University of Florida FL 2.7x
17 California State University-Bakersfield CA 2.6x
18 California State University-Stanislaus CA 2.6x
19 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX 2.6x
20 CUNY New York City College of Technology NY 2.4x
21 California State University-Fullerton CA 2.4x
22 College of Staten Island CUNY NY 2.4x
23 Ohio University-Zanesville Campus OH 2.3x
24 Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus OH 2.3x
25 Stanford University CA 2.3x
26 California State University-Fresno CA 2.2x
27 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA 2.1x
28 Indiana University-Northwest IN 2.1x
29 California State University-Northridge CA 2.1x
30 CUNY Medgar Evers College NY 2.0x
31 Dalton State College GA 2.0x
32 California Institute of Technology CA 2.0x
33 Purdue University Northwest IN 2.0x
34 Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus NM 2.0x
35 Talmudical Seminary of Bobov NY 2.0x
36 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology NM 1.9x
37 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus WA 1.9x
38 California State University-East Bay CA 1.9x
39 Uta Mesivta of Kiryas Joel NY 1.9x
40 University of Michigan-Flint MI 1.9x
41 University of Arkansas Grantham AR 1.9x
42 Mount Carmel College of Nursing OH 1.8x
43 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA 1.8x
44 Berea College KY 1.8x
45 California State University-Sacramento CA 1.7x
46 Wilberforce University OH 1.7x
47 University of California-Berkeley CA 1.7x
48 University of Maine at Fort Kent ME 1.7x
49 University of California-San Diego CA 1.7x
50 College of the Ozarks MO 1.7x
51 University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus CT 1.7x
52 Louisiana State University-Shreveport LA 1.7x
53 Rice University TX 1.7x
54 University of Houston-Victoria TX 1.7x
55 New College of Florida FL 1.7x
56 California State University-Dominguez Hills CA 1.7x
57 University of California-Los Angeles CA 1.6x
58 Florida International University FL 1.6x
59 Florida Atlantic University FL 1.6x
60 Baptist Health Sciences University TN 1.6x
61 Oakland University MI 1.6x
62 Farmingdale State College NY 1.6x
63 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI 1.6x
64 Ferris State University MI 1.6x
65 University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA 1.6x
66 California State University-Channel Islands CA 1.6x
67 University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma OK 1.6x
68 The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art NY 1.6x
69 University of Illinois Chicago IL 1.6x
70 University of Michigan-Dearborn MI 1.6x
71 Elizabeth City State University NC 1.6x
72 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA 1.6x
73 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC 1.6x
74 University of Chicago IL 1.6x
75 California State University-Long Beach CA 1.5x
76 California State University-San Marcos CA 1.5x
77 Marshall University WV 1.5x
78 Northern Kentucky University KY 1.5x
79 University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online NH 1.5x
80 Portland State University OR 1.5x
81 Oklahoma Panhandle State University OK 1.5x
82 Indiana University-Southeast IN 1.5x
83 West Virginia University Institute of Technology WV 1.5x
84 Louisiana State University-Alexandria LA 1.5x
85 Rhode Island College RI 1.5x
86 University of South Florida FL 1.5x
87 Clayton State University GA 1.5x
88 University of Maine at Presque Isle ME 1.5x
89 Christian Brothers University TN 1.5x
90 Indiana University-East IN 1.4x
91 University of Illinois Springfield IL 1.4x
92 Trinity Washington University DC 1.4x
93 San Jose State University CA 1.4x
94 Vanderbilt University TN 1.4x
95 Bowdoin College ME 1.4x
96 University of Minnesota-Morris MN 1.4x
97 University of California-Irvine CA 1.4x
98 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL 1.4x
99 University of Central Florida FL 1.4x
100 Southeastern Oklahoma State University OK 1.4x

Methodology

4-Year institutions ranked by ROI (median 10-year earnings / total estimated cost). Minimum enrollment: 500 students. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.