Best Value Public Colleges: Earnings vs. Cost
Value is a relationship between what a degree costs and what it earns. For each college we estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical high school graduate in the same state would take to repay four years of net price. Lower is better, and the figure runs from 0.3 years to 25.5 years among public four-year colleges.
We ranked 440 public four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and a 40% graduation rate, showing the best 50. The median payback is 2.4 years. The 50th school takes 1.2 years. CUNY Hunter College ranks first, and California has the most entries with 15. The typical net price among all qualifiers is $14,969.
Payback uses median earnings of former students four years after they finished and ignores those who never finished, which is why we require a graduation rate of at least 40%. Schools whose graduates do not out-earn a high school graduate by at least $2,000 a year are not ranked.
In-state students usually get the best deal at a public college, so favor schools in your own state and use out-of-state results only as a comparison point.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public 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
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- 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 440 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.3 years | $2,984 | $73,236 | $11,000 | 59% |
| 2 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.3 years | $3,033 | $82,748 | $11,512 | 72% |
| 3 | Skyline College San Bruno, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 0.3 years | $1,738 | $59,341 | — | 43% |
| 4 | North Florida College Madison, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | 0.3 years | $804 | $45,061 | — | 61% |
| 5 | United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY Public · 4-year | 0.4 years | $6,174 | $92,950 | $8,833 | 81% |
| 6 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $4,195 | $68,713 | $10,298 | 56% |
| 7 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,776 | $67,740 | $11,990 | 56% |
| 8 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,203 | $60,020 | $11,000 | 56% |
| 9 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,148 | $63,353 | $10,950 | 50% |
| 10 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,103 | $62,833 | $11,000 | 55% |
| 11 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 4-year | 0.6 years | $6,541 | $77,321 | $15,000 | 91% |
| 12 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA Public · 4-year | 0.6 years | $12,116 | $119,180 | $21,672 | 93% |
| 13 | California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.7 years | $3,967 | $59,756 | $13,000 | 53% |
| 14 | Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.7 years | $6,079 | $73,337 | $21,229 | 43% |
| 15 | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.7 years | $9,873 | $85,232 | $19,085 | 57% |
| 16 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $13,138 | $96,159 | $19,500 | 93% |
| 17 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $13,481 | $96,018 | $13,000 | 93% |
| 18 | Utah Valley University Orem, UT Public · 4-year · Open admission | 0.9 years | $6,376 | $66,978 | $14,750 | 43% |
| 19 | Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.9 years | $3,637 | $50,288 | $15,000 | 48% |
| 20 | University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $9,492 | $77,294 | $22,500 | 57% |
| 21 | University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $7,007 | $65,600 | $25,000 | 42% |
| 22 | Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.9 years | $4,904 | $54,827 | $16,500 | 42% |
| 23 | University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.9 years | $6,420 | $62,574 | $18,606 | 43% |
| 24 | Indiana University-Kokomo Kokomo, IN Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $3,968 | $54,618 | $16,961 | 45% |
| 25 | Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland, FL Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $11,853 | $86,952 | $14,250 | 54% |
| 26 | California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $6,555 | $63,753 | $13,750 | 70% |
| 27 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $4,831 | $53,888 | $12,950 | 50% |
| 28 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $13,760 | $89,614 | $15,000 | 67% |
| 29 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 4-year | 1.0 years | $11,655 | $81,033 | $14,000 | 92% |
| 30 | California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $4,564 | $55,441 | $14,715 | 55% |
| 31 | California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $9,320 | $72,596 | $16,544 | 47% |
| 32 | California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $5,652 | $59,109 | $16,600 | 50% |
| 33 | Northwest Florida State College Niceville, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | 1.0 years | $4,571 | $52,556 | $7,932 | 41% |
| 34 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.1 years | $12,470 | $83,130 | $15,500 | 87% |
| 35 | Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $9,120 | $68,708 | $22,750 | 57% |
| 36 | University of West Florida Pensacola, FL Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $9,364 | $67,723 | $16,624 | 60% |
| 37 | California State University-Stanislaus Turlock, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.1 years | $6,067 | $58,952 | $13,540 | 56% |
| 38 | Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $14,182 | $84,560 | $24,990 | 68% |
| 39 | Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $16,298 | $93,514 | $23,250 | 64% |
| 40 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | 1.1 years | $4,709 | $52,051 | $7,147 | 44% |
| 41 | South Florida State College Avon Park, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 1.1 years | $3,877 | $48,619 | $7,368 | 49% |
| 42 | Cal Poly Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $20,555 | $108,757 | $24,965 | 63% |
| 43 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $12,548 | $77,677 | $14,000 | 93% |
| 44 | California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $7,021 | $59,664 | $13,872 | 57% |
| 45 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $10,974 | $72,839 | $16,704 | 61% |
| 46 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $16,665 | $90,662 | $18,500 | 86% |
| 47 | California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $7,000 | $59,992 | $14,505 | 56% |
| 48 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $3,815 | $47,615 | $8,023 | 44% |
| 49 | New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $16,504 | $91,874 | $21,000 | 73% |
| 50 | Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI Public · 4-year | 1.2 years | $8,624 | $64,721 | $21,000 | 47% |
By state
State versions of this ranking:
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