California engineering school Harvey Mudd College has the best return on investment of any higher-education institution in the U.S., according to a new report from salary-tracking website PayScale.
In compiling its ranking, PayScale looked at salary data for employees with bachelor's degrees, not including any jobs that would require a graduate degree, such as law or medicine. The net cost of each school was determined by looking at graduation rates, financial aid, and campus costs — tuition and extra fees such as room, board, and books.
PayScale ranked the colleges on a 20-year net ROI, defined as "the total earnings, minus the cost of the degree, minus the average earnings over the person with only a high school education," according to 538, where we first saw this report.
Click over to PayScale's website for more on their methodology >>
Harvey Mudd College topped PayScale's list with a $229,500 total price tag to graduate, but a total 20-year income of $980,900. The rest of the top 10 was also made up of tech schools, including MIT, Georgia Tech, and Stanford.
Here are PayScale's 10 schools with the best ROI:
- Harvey Mudd College — Cost: $229,500, ROI: $980,900
- California Institute of Technology — Cost: $220,400, ROI: $837,600
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Cost: $223,400, ROI: $831,1000
- Stanford University — Cost: $236,300, ROI: $789,500
- Colorado School of Mines (in state) — Cost: $114,200, ROI: $783,400
- Georgia Institute of Technology (in state) — Cost: $92,250, ROI: $755,600
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology — Cost: $217,400, ROI: $736,200
- Polytechnic Institute of New York University — Cost: $223,900, ROI: $724,500
- Stevens Institute of Technology — Cost: $250,900, ROI: $722,400
- Colorado School of Mines (out of state) — Cost: $178,500, ROI: $719,000
