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Best Value Colleges in Indiana

We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Indiana high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 33 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 0.7 years at the fastest to 12.0 years at the slowest.

The median college needs 3.0 years to repay its net price, 0.2 years faster than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (8) have a median payback of 1.6 years against 3.2 years for the 25 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.

Purdue University Northwest ranks first at 0.7 years, ahead of Indiana University-Kokomo (0.9 years) and Purdue University-Main Campus (1.3 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.

How this list is built

A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.

Colleges considered
Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
  • Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
  • Main campus located in Indiana
  • At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
  • Graduation rate of 40% or higher
  • A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
  • This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Indiana has 33
Data period
  • Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
  • Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
  • Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
  • Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
  • Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.

Read the full methodology

Showing all 33 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.

Table: Best Value Colleges in Indiana
1 Purdue University Northwest
Hammond, IN
Public · 4-year
 0.7 years$6,079$73,337$21,22943%
2 Indiana University-Kokomo
Kokomo, IN
Public · 4-year
 0.9 years$3,968$54,618$16,96145%
3 Purdue University-Main Campus
West Lafayette, IN
Public · 4-year
 1.3 years$14,600$81,751$19,50083%
4 Indiana University-East
Richmond, IN
Public · 4-year
 1.5 years$8,134$58,030$18,00042%
5 Indiana University-Bloomington
Bloomington, IN
Public · 4-year
 1.7 years$16,264$74,511$19,50981%
6 Indiana University-Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Public · 4-year
 1.7 years$11,668$64,616$20,00054%
7 University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 1.7 years$26,780$100,684$19,00096%
8 Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN
Public · 4-year
 2.1 years$10,873$57,688$24,00042%
9 Valparaiso University
Valparaiso, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.3 years$18,578$69,228$26,94269%
10 Marian University (IN)
Indianapolis, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.7 years$24,018$72,150$27,00064%
11 DePauw University
Greencastle, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.7 years$22,264$70,091$27,00077%
12 Ball State University
Muncie, IN
Public · 4-year
 2.8 years$14,940$57,619$23,25063%
13 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.8 years$42,513$97,780$25,00080%
14 Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion
Marion, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.8 years$22,866$68,838$24,25067%
15 University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 2.8 years$18,196$62,831$25,97658%
16 Wabash College
Crawfordsville, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.0 years$24,336$68,626$27,00077%
17 Goshen College
Goshen, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.0 years$14,493$55,539$22,97463%
18 Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.1 years$25,292$69,406$27,00073%
19 University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.2 years$21,602$63,673$26,86456%
20 Trine University
Angola, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.2 years$25,355$67,814$25,00066%
21 University of Evansville
Evansville, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.2 years$18,499$59,762$24,60668%
22 Butler University
Indianapolis, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 3.9 years$36,041$73,732$26,00080%
23 Hanover College
Hanover, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 4.4 years$21,829$56,221$25,25065%
24 Bethel University (IN)
Mishawaka, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 4.4 years$18,610$53,289$25,00055%
25 Manchester University
North Manchester, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 4.6 years$18,805$52,989$26,85445%
26 Huntington University
Huntington, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 4.9 years$19,310$52,242$25,57666%
27 Anderson University (IN)
Anderson, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 5.5 years$25,021$54,833$27,00052%
28 Franklin College
Franklin, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 5.5 years$22,855$53,224$27,00062%
29 Grace College and Theological Seminary
Winona Lake, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 6.3 years$19,932$49,126$19,50069%
30 Taylor University
Upland, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 6.5 years$24,865$51,779$20,50075%
31 Holy Cross College
Notre Dame, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 11.2 years$26,728$46,024$24,00050%
32 Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Saint Mary of the Woods, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 11.4 years$31,872$47,647$19,51249%
33 Earlham College
Richmond, IN
Private nonprofit · 4-year
 12.0 years$24,714$44,750$23,48868%

How to compare these colleges

Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.

Guides worth reading first

More lists for Indiana

Same list in nearby states

All 51 colleges in Indiana See the national version of this ranking