Best Value Colleges in Ohio
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Ohio high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 54 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 1.0 years at the fastest to 20.3 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.8 years to repay its net price, 0.6 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (13) have a median payback of 2.6 years against 4.0 years for the 41 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Mount Carmel College of Nursing ranks first at 1.0 years, ahead of Ursuline College (1.7 years) and The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences (1.9 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 Ohio
- 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; Ohio has 54
- 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.
Showing the top 50 of 54 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.0 years | $10,420 | $79,807 | $22,082 | 64% |
| 2 | Ursuline College Pepper Pike, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.7 years | $16,164 | $73,605 | $26,250 | 61% |
| 3 | The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences Cincinnati, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.9 years | $18,378 | $74,804 | $24,250 | 58% |
| 4 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 4-year | 2.0 years | $17,339 | $70,682 | $19,976 | 88% |
| 5 | Mercy College of Ohio Toledo, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $17,989 | $71,303 | $20,834 | 49% |
| 6 | Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science Cincinnati, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $19,622 | $75,464 | $20,625 | 64% |
| 7 | Kettering College Kettering, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $21,650 | $80,027 | $23,500 | 65% |
| 8 | University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH Public · 4-year | 2.1 years | $13,946 | $62,809 | $23,250 | 50% |
| 9 | University of Toledo Toledo, OH Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $17,249 | $66,084 | $22,250 | 56% |
| 10 | Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $14,764 | $61,322 | $21,797 | 50% |
| 11 | Wright State University-Main Campus Dayton, OH Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $15,415 | $62,601 | $22,750 | 44% |
| 12 | Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH Public · 4-year | 2.5 years | $21,637 | $70,528 | $21,056 | 66% |
| 13 | Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $12,767 | $56,047 | $24,000 | 52% |
| 14 | Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $16,530 | $61,602 | $26,827 | 56% |
| 15 | Ohio Northern University Ada, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $24,478 | $72,080 | $27,000 | 75% |
| 16 | University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 4-year | 2.8 years | $25,648 | $72,188 | $21,250 | 73% |
| 17 | University of Dayton Dayton, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $29,533 | $78,870 | $23,250 | 81% |
| 18 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $41,190 | $94,237 | $24,000 | 87% |
| 19 | Walsh University North Canton, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $20,493 | $63,410 | $27,000 | 60% |
| 20 | Marietta College Marietta, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $21,083 | $64,527 | $27,000 | 60% |
| 21 | Ohio Dominican University Columbus, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $20,079 | $61,640 | $26,000 | 44% |
| 22 | Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $28,384 | $70,785 | $23,000 | 81% |
| 23 | Otterbein University Westerville, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $19,237 | $58,068 | $26,000 | 68% |
| 24 | Xavier University Cincinnati, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $32,997 | $71,477 | $23,250 | 70% |
| 25 | John Carroll University University Heights, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $28,746 | $67,580 | $26,000 | 78% |
| 26 | Ashland University Ashland, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $21,988 | $59,855 | $25,000 | 61% |
| 27 | Tiffin University Tiffin, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $26,500 | $63,797 | $27,000 | 41% |
| 28 | Lake Erie College Painesville, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $20,961 | $57,903 | $26,000 | 40% |
| 29 | Capital University Columbus, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.9 years | $22,576 | $59,121 | $26,889 | 63% |
| 30 | Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH Public · 4-year | 4.0 years | $20,787 | $56,839 | $24,500 | 65% |
| 31 | Cedarville University Cedarville, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.0 years | $24,468 | $60,679 | $20,937 | 73% |
| 32 | Wittenberg University Springfield, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.0 years | $18,649 | $54,622 | $27,000 | 53% |
| 33 | Shawnee State University Portsmouth, OH Public · 4-year | 4.1 years | $14,381 | $50,129 | $23,000 | 45% |
| 34 | University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.3 years | $21,807 | $56,340 | $17,084 | 54% |
| 35 | University of Mount Union Alliance, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.3 years | $23,280 | $57,955 | $27,000 | 62% |
| 36 | The College of Wooster Wooster, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.3 years | $23,458 | $57,840 | $26,500 | 74% |
| 37 | The University of Findlay Findlay, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.4 years | $27,221 | $60,876 | $25,439 | 60% |
| 38 | Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.5 years | $20,897 | $54,483 | $27,000 | 60% |
| 39 | Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.8 years | $27,603 | $59,094 | $27,000 | 68% |
| 40 | Heidelberg University Tiffin, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.0 years | $20,556 | $52,647 | $27,000 | 51% |
| 41 | Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH Public · 4-year | 5.1 years | $24,022 | $54,998 | $25,000 | 63% |
| 42 | Mount Vernon Nazarene University Mount Vernon, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.1 years | $22,421 | $53,516 | $25,000 | 66% |
| 43 | Hiram College Hiram, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.2 years | $21,058 | $52,304 | $27,000 | 57% |
| 44 | Muskingum University New Concord, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.4 years | $19,532 | $50,429 | $25,369 | 55% |
| 45 | Malone University Canton, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.4 years | $20,948 | $51,485 | $26,289 | 48% |
| 46 | Zane State College Zanesville, OH Public · 4-year | 5.5 years | $8,062 | $41,949 | $6,834 | 49% |
| 47 | Wilmington College Wilmington, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.9 years | $24,153 | $52,364 | $24,208 | 51% |
| 48 | Denison University Granville, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.0 years | $40,007 | $62,838 | $26,000 | 79% |
| 49 | Bluffton University Bluffton, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.2 years | $19,943 | $49,053 | $27,000 | 51% |
| 50 | Franciscan University of Steubenville Steubenville, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.9 years | $23,589 | $49,762 | $23,384 | 76% |
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 Ohio
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Most affordable private colleges in Ohio
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Same list in nearby states
Best value colleges in Pennsylvania
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Best value colleges in Michigan
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Best value colleges in Indiana
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All 113 colleges in Ohio See the national version of this ranking