National ranking · College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

Top 100 Best-Value Colleges

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data retrieved March–July 2026, these 100 colleges have the widest descriptive gap between institution-level median earnings ten years after entry and one year of average net price among 6,243 US colleges. The two inputs are different Scorecard cohorts by design, see methodology §dual-cohort joins, not a causal return-on-investment estimate.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$123,261
Top value score: 100
Colleges ranked: $143,372
#1 median earnings

The list in one line

These 100 colleges show the widest descriptive gap between 10-year entry-cohort earnings and one year of Title IV net price. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads - median $143,372 (10yr after entry) beside $20,111 average net price (a different, more recent aid cohort).

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$123,261
#1 value score - Massachusetts Institute of: $143,372
#1-10-yr median earnings: $20,111
#1, average net price / yr: $60,399
#100, value-score cutoff

Value score = 10-yr entry-cohort earnings minus one year Title IV net price (deliberate dual-cohort join); see methodology §dual-cohort joins.

Massachusetts Institute …

$123,261
California Institute of …

$112,491
Stanford University

$110,273
University of Health Sci…

$105,230
Franklin W Olin College of

$104,284
Princeton University

$103,938
Harvey Mudd College

$102,763
Albany College of Pharma…

$101,544
Georgia Institute of Tec…

$90,656
Massachusetts College of…

$86,012
United States Merchant M…

$84,436
Babson College

$83,424
Bentley University

$83,029
Carnegie Mellon University

$82,918
Harvard University

$82,751

What this shows The top of this list pairs strong former-student earnings with a modest net price - not just the highest-earning schools outright, which tend to cost far more to attend.

Here is where the #100 cutoff ($60,399 value score) lands among all US colleges:

The bar to make this top-100 list

Value score (median 10-yr earnings minus average net price), College Scorecard

$60,399 Top 2% higher than 98% of 4,408 US colleges

Each bar is a $10K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals

This list's average profile vs. the national benchmark

Each axis averages this list's 100 schools, then scores that average against the same national percentile benchmarks used on every school profile page.

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education

CA

18
NY

13
MA

12
FL

6
MO

4
IL

4
NJ

3
PA

3
MI

3
MD

3
ME

3
WA

3

What this shows A high count here mostly reflects the sheer size of a state's higher-education sector - California and New York lead simply because they operate the most public universities and colleges overall, not because either is a low-cost place to live.

Best value by ownership sector

How the top 100 splits across public, private nonprofit, and for-profit institutions, averages computed only from schools on this list, not the full national catalog. For the nationwide sector comparison see our earnings-by-ownership research.

Sector	On this list	Avg earnings	Avg net price	Avg completion	Avg value score
Private Nonprofit	52	$100,796	$24,658	86%	$76,138
Public	32	$82,486	$13,781	77%	$68,705
Private For-Profit	16	$94,352	$28,639	56%	$65,713

Full ranking table

Filter by state, ownership sector, or minimum enrollment, then open any school profile for program-level earnings, aid brackets, and peer comparisons.

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Net Price	Completion	Value Score
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	$143,372	$20,111	96.2%	$123,261
2	California Institute of Technology	CA	$128,566	$16,075	93.8%	$112,491
3	Stanford University	CA	$124,080	$13,807	92.4%	$110,273
4	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis	MO	$137,047	$31,817	68.5%	$105,230
5	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering	MA	$129,455	$25,171	94.2%	$104,284
6	Princeton University	NJ	$110,066	$6,128	97.4%	$103,938
7	Harvey Mudd College	CA	$138,687	$35,924	92.8%	$102,763
8	Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	NY	$131,426	$29,882	68.2%	$101,544
9	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	$102,772	$12,116	93.2%	$90,656
10	Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	MA	$125,557	$39,545	62.7%	$86,012
11	United States Merchant Marine Academy	NY	$90,610	$6,174	81.5%	$84,436
12	Babson College	MA	$123,938	$40,514	92.7%	$83,424
13	Bentley University	MA	$120,959	$37,930	87.5%	$83,029
14	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	$114,862	$31,944	93.3%	$82,918
15	Harvard University	MA	$101,817	$19,066	97.5%	$82,751
16	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$111,371	$28,699	96.7%	$82,672
17	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	$102,491	$21,590	95.5%	$80,901
18	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$92,446	$13,481	92.9%	$78,965
19	Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland	NY	$89,548	$10,753	-	$78,795
20	St Paul's School of Nursing-Queens	NY	$104,403	$26,315	47.1%	$78,088
21	University of Chicago	IL	$91,885	$14,860	95.4%	$77,025
22	Yale University	CT	$100,533	$23,777	96.0%	$76,756
23	Rice University	TX	$89,718	$13,370	95.2%	$76,348
24	Chamberlain University-Indiana	IN	$92,405	$16,149	-	$76,256
25	Claremont McKenna College	CA	$104,736	$28,849	93.3%	$75,887
26	Vanderbilt University	TN	$91,565	$15,846	93.1%	$75,719
27	Cornell University	NY	$104,043	$28,690	95.3%	$75,353
28	Cal Poly Maritime Academy	CA	$94,784	$20,555	63.3%	$74,229
29	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$90,768	$16,665	85.7%	$74,103
30	SUNY Maritime College	NY	$95,951	$22,367	69.5%	$73,584
31	University of Notre Dame	IN	$99,980	$26,780	96.0%	$73,200
32	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	$75,971	$3,033	72.1%	$72,938
33	University of California-San Diego	CA	$84,943	$12,470	86.8%	$72,473
34	Washington and Lee University	VA	$94,810	$23,781	94.4%	$71,029
35	Williams College	MA	$88,665	$17,716	95.1%	$70,949
36	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	NY	$83,847	$13,269	80.7%	$70,578
37	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$83,648	$13,138	93.2%	$70,510
38	West Coast University-Miami	FL	$102,672	$32,539	-	$70,133
39	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$82,511	$12,548	92.6%	$69,963
40	West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County	CA	$102,672	$32,879	61.3%	$69,793
41	Unitek College	CA	$87,877	$19,130	67.8%	$68,747
42	Johns Hopkins University	MD	$87,555	$18,809	94.2%	$68,746
43	Lehigh University	PA	$105,584	$36,931	88.5%	$68,653
44	Colorado School of Mines	CO	$97,335	$28,690	80.9%	$68,645
45	Bowdoin College	ME	$82,735	$14,398	95.4%	$68,337
46	Brown University	RI	$93,487	$25,184	95.7%	$68,303
47	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	$78,466	$10,163	62.8%	$68,303
48	Duke University	NC	$97,800	$29,612	96.3%	$68,188
49	Dartmouth College	NH	$97,434	$29,519	95.8%	$67,915
50	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	$84,276	$16,504	72.9%	$67,772
51	Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ	$108,772	$41,346	88.2%	$67,426
52	Northeastern University Oakland	CA	$92,538	$25,181	-	$67,357
53	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$82,860	$15,678	88.6%	$67,182
54	University of Florida-Online	FL	$71,588	$4,815	81.2%	$66,773
55	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$81,054	$14,355	85.0%	$66,699
56	Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO	$82,957	$16,298	64.0%	$66,659
57	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	$89,070	$22,453	69.2%	$66,617
58	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	NM	$76,489	$9,873	56.8%	$66,616
59	Maine Maritime Academy	ME	$89,964	$23,414	59.9%	$66,550
60	Belanger School of Nursing	NY	$79,677	$13,185	-	$66,492
61	University of California-Irvine	CA	$80,735	$14,251	86.4%	$66,484
62	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	$78,466	$12,319	66.8%	$66,147
63	University of California-Davis	CA	$80,838	$14,741	85.4%	$66,097
64	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	$102,051	$36,228	83.4%	$65,823
65	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide	FL	$84,131	$18,725	21.1%	$65,406
66	Chamberlain University-Nevada	NV	$92,405	$27,073	-	$65,332
67	Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital School of Nursing	MA	$88,084	$22,761	-	$65,323
68	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	$86,863	$21,565	95.5%	$65,298
69	San Jose State University	CA	$78,988	$13,760	66.8%	$65,228
70	University of Florida	FL	$71,588	$6,541	91.3%	$65,047
71	Mount Carmel College of Nursing	OH	$75,103	$10,420	64.1%	$64,683
72	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$86,182	$21,786	94.3%	$64,396
73	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$78,466	$14,091	84.5%	$64,375
74	Chamberlain University-Michigan	MI	$92,405	$28,045	-	$64,360
75	Unitek College	CA	$87,877	$23,676	78.3%	$64,201
76	Illinois Institute of Technology	IL	$82,592	$18,425	74.0%	$64,167
77	Davidson College	NC	$81,400	$17,379	91.5%	$64,021
78	Michigan Technological University	MI	$78,198	$14,182	68.4%	$64,016
79	Helene Fuld College of Nursing	NY	$111,027	$47,181	-	$63,846
80	Colby College	ME	$80,490	$17,180	89.5%	$63,310
81	HCA Florida Mercy Hospital School of Practical Nursing	FL	$72,275	$9,109	-	$63,166
82	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus	CT	$73,997	$10,875	56.1%	$63,122
83	Capitol Technology University	MD	$85,035	$22,102	44.4%	$62,933
84	Gnomon	CA	$114,785	$51,949	-	$62,836
85	Georgetown University	DC	$103,494	$40,815	94.5%	$62,679
86	Neumont College of Computer Science	UT	$97,827	$35,205	59.2%	$62,622
87	CUNY City College	NY	$66,039	$3,776	55.8%	$62,263
88	Boston College	MA	$103,937	$41,704	90.9%	$62,233
89	California State University-East Bay	CA	$71,401	$9,320	46.7%	$62,081
90	Trinity Health System School of Nursing	OH	$71,660	$9,825	-	$61,835
91	Chamberlain University-Missouri	MO	$92,405	$30,716	-	$61,689
92	Northeastern University	MA	$92,538	$30,915	90.5%	$61,623
93	Chamberlain University-Louisiana	LA	$92,405	$30,791	-	$61,614
94	Baptist Health Sciences University	TN	$72,529	$11,212	46.1%	$61,317
95	Chamberlain University-Florida	FL	$92,405	$31,269	-	$61,136
96	Chamberlain University-Ohio	OH	$92,405	$31,544	29.3%	$60,861
97	Massachusetts Maritime Academy	MA	$82,392	$21,582	76.6%	$60,810
98	Chamberlain University-Illinois	IL	$92,405	$31,837	45.5%	$60,568
99	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$72,200	$11,655	91.6%	$60,545
100	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	$103,470	$43,071	89.1%	$60,399

About This Ranking

The value score is calculated as institution-level median earnings (10yr) minus one year of average net price. It is a descriptive comparison, not a formal return-on-investment calculation. Only schools with both fields are included. Earnings cover federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled ten years after entry; net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. All data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. See our methodology for cohort and derivation details.

Caveats and Limitations

This ranking deliberately joins two Scorecard populations: the 10-year earnings figure is a federally aided entry cohort (working and not enrolled in the measurement year; not limited to graduates), while net price is a more recent average for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. They are not the same students or the same academic year. Net price is not what any individual student would pay and can vary sharply by family income, so two schools with the same average may serve very different student populations.

Earnings also mix together every field of study a school offers, so an engineering-heavy campus will outrank a similarly-selective liberal-arts college on this metric alone, independent of teaching quality. Very small programs may have earnings data suppressed by the Department of Education to protect student privacy, which can exclude otherwise strong small colleges from this list entirely. Use this ranking as one data point among several, not a single verdict on a school's worth.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The value score is a descriptive one-year cost-and-earnings lens, not a prediction of individual return.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard and IPEDS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.