With the costs of college continuing to climb, figuring out whether a school is a good investment is paramount for many when choosing the right place to earn a degree.
PayScale.com has released it annual list of how colleges fare in terms of return on investment. The list is a good resource for parents and students to consult when making a decision.
Recommended For You
In the end, college is about more than dollars and cents, of course, but it's hard to ignore the data in PayScale's list. It might be worth considering whether being saddled with student loan debt is worth it for a school whose graduates earn less than students from other schools.
The methodology PayScale used to compare 962 schools in the U.S. includes only data on graduates who earned bachelor's degrees. It calculates 20-year ROI by taking the difference between the 20-year median pay for a 2015 graduate and the 24-year median pay for a 2015 high school graduate, then subtracting the 4-year cost of attending the college. Most of the schools on this list have a negative ROI.
Some public schools made this list separately for in-state and out-of-state grads; in those cases we eliminated the out-of-state numbers from our ranking. But the out-of-state grads, with higher tuition, fared worse.
Here, then, are the 30 colleges for worst ROI:
30. EVANGEL UNIVERSITY
Location: Springfield, Missouri
20-Year Net ROI: $4,430
4-Year Cost: $127,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $30,300
29. BUENA VISTA UNIVERSITY
Location: Storm Lake, Iowa
20-Year Net ROI: $1,300
4-Year Cost: $160,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $34,300
28. BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC
Location: Boston
20-Year Net ROI: ($3,700)
4-Year Cost: $231,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $62,000
27. RIPON COLLEGE
Location: Ripon, Wisconsin
20-Year Net ROI: ($5,100)
4-Year Cost: $168,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,400
26. NAZARETH COLLEGE OF ROCHESTER
Location: Rochester, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($6,900)
4-Year Cost: $173,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,000
25. THE COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
Location: Albany, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,100)
4-Year Cost: $166,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $30,700
24. CHATHAM UNIVERSITY
Location: Pittsburgh
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,200)
4-Year Cost: $182,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $23,500
23. MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY
Location: Mansfield, Pennsylvania
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,300)
4-Year Cost: $132,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $33,700
22. MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART
Location: Baltimore
20-Year Net ROI: ($8,100)
4-Year Cost: $216,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $34,200
21. ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY (in state)
Location: Elizabeth City, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: (9,000)
4-Year Cost: $49,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $19,500
20. UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT HILO (out of state)
Location: Hilo
20-Year Net ROI: $10,000
4-Year Cost: $116,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $27,900
19. CLARKE UNIVERSITY
Location: Dubuque, Iowa
20-Year Net ROI: ($11,000)
4-Year Cost: $160,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,300
18. (tie). MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY (out of state)
Location: Morehead, Kentucky
20-Year Net ROI: ($14,000)
4-Year Cost: $119,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $24,200
17. (tie). UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE (out of state)
Location: Asheville, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: ($14,000)
4-Year Cost: $129,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $23,400
16. GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY (in state)
Location: Grambling, Louisiana
20-Year Net ROI: ($17,000)
4-Year Cost: $88,900
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $30,300
15. COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE
Location: New Rochelle, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($20,000)
4-Year Cost: $187,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $23,700
14. MERCYHURST COLLEGE
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
20-Year Net ROI: ($23,000)
4-Year Cost: $176,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $31,500
13. BLACK HILLS STATE UNIVERSITY (in state)
Location: Spearfish, South Dakota
20-Year Net ROI: ($24,000)
4-Year Cost: $72,400
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $25,400
12. JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY
Location: Jackson, Mississippi
20-Year Net ROI: ($24,000)
4-Year Cost: $116,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $33,300
11. SCHOOL OF THE ART OF INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
Location: Chicago
20-Year Net ROI: ($25,000)
4-Year Cost: $230,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $39,600
8. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT PEMBROKE (out of state)
Location: Pembroke
20-Year Net ROI: ($25,000)
4-Year Cost: $105,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $20,900
7. SAINT FRANCIS UNIVERSITY
Location: Loretto, Pennsylvania
20-Year Net ROI: ($26,000)
4-Year Cost: $177,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $41,700
6. GOSHEN COLLEGE
Location: Goshen, Ind.
20-Year Net ROI: ($29,000)
4-Year Cost: $159,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $36,500
5. SUNY – COLLEGE AT POTSDAM (in state)
Location: Potsdam, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($34,000)
4-Year Cost: $82,700
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $27,000
4. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA – AIKEN CAMPUS (in state)
Location: Aiken
20-Year Net ROI: ($40,000)
4-Year Cost: $83,800
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $23,000
3. FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY (in state)
Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: ($58,000)
4-Year Cost: $54,500
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $22,600
2. UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO (in state)
Location: Montevallo, Alabama
20-Year Net ROI: ($77,000)
4-Year Cost: $86,100
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $24,000
1. SHAW UNIVERSITY
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: ($110,000)
4-Year Cost: $111,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $3,500
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
