Best ROI Colleges for $0–30k Income

Ranked by 10-year net financial gain using Monte Carlo simulation (10,000 scenarios per school). Results use actual earnings distributions and net price for families earning under $30,000.

$0–30k $30–48k $48–75k $75–110k $110k+

1,605

Schools Simulated

5000%

#1 Median ROI

$415k

#1 Net Gain

83.5%

Avg P(Positive ROI)

How this works: We run 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations per school. Each simulation randomly samples earnings from actual percentile data (10th–90th), accounts for graduation probability, and varies time-to-degree. Net gain = (simulated earnings − $35k baseline) × 10 years − total cost. Try the interactive calculator →

Top 100 Best ROI Schools

#	School	Net Price/yr	Median Earnings	Median ROI	Net Gain (10yr)	If You Graduate
1	Brown University RI · Private	$1,468	$79k	+5000%	+$415k	2347% → 5000%
2	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering MA · Private	$2,008	$133k	+5000%	+$889k	5000% → 5000%
3	Stanford University CA · Private	$1,233	$98k	+5000%	+$594k	4769% → 5000%
4	University of Pennsylvania PA · Private	$580	$103k	+5000%	+$640k	5000% → 5000%
5	Washington University in St Louis MO · Private	$1,556	$83k	+5000%	+$431k	2764% → 5000%
6	Williams College MA · Private	$1,451	$72k	+5000%	+$339k	1756% → 5000%
7	Yale University CT · Private	$961	$89k	+5000%	+$501k	5000% → 5000%
8	Johns Hopkins University MD · Private	$2,084	$83k	+4754%	+$442k	2181% → 5000%
9	Princeton University NJ · Private	$2,958	$96k	+4535%	+$581k	1178% → 5000%
10	Harvard University MA · Private	$2,564	$85k	+4271%	+$472k	1639% → 5000%
11	Georgetown University DC · Private	$3,077	$96k	+4155%	+$574k	1787% → 5000%
12	University of Florida-Online FL · Public	$848	$64k	+3700%	+$142k	1829% → 5000%
13	University of Chicago IL · Private	$2,500	$77k	+3401%	+$376k	1187% → 5000%
14	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI · Public	$2,670	$76k	+3085%	+$368k	1203% → 5000%
15	Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA · Private	$5,193	$111k	+2983%	+$691k	1201% → 5000%
16	Vanderbilt University TN · Private	$3,176	$80k	+2747%	+$394k	1096% → 5000%
17	Colby College ME · Private	$2,648	$71k	+2528%	+$300k	785% → 5000%
18	Cornell University NY · Private	$5,244	$91k	+2237%	+$514k	925% → 4678%
19	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice NY · Public	$788	$50k	+2121%	+$33k	-100% → 5000%
20	United States Merchant Marine Academy NY · Public	$3,981	$83k	+2039%	+$367k	1262% → 4686%
21	CUNY Lehman College NY · Public	$881	$52k	+1886%	+$33k	-100% → 5000%
22	Dartmouth College NH · Private	$6,034	$92k	+1885%	+$498k	754% → 4270%
23	Rice University TX · Private	$4,443	$78k	+1877%	+$370k	723% → 4590%
24	Claremont McKenna College CA · Private	$5,387	$87k	+1842%	+$443k	855% → 3809%
25	Swarthmore College PA · Private	$4,594	$73k	+1761%	+$352k	678% → 3419%
26	Amherst College MA · Private	$4,468	$72k	+1633%	+$323k	486% → 3991%
27	Massachusetts Maritime Academy MA · Public	$6,379	$92k	+1560%	+$444k	951% → 3017%
28	Bates College ME · Private	$4,140	$65k	+1354%	+$249k	435% → 3236%
29	CUNY City College NY · Public	$1,254	$56k	+1296%	+$32k	-100% → 5000%
30	University of Wisconsin-Madison WI · Public	$3,981	$65k	+1295%	+$231k	440% → 3163%
31	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC · Public	$3,753	$62k	+1278%	+$214k	347% → 3377%
32	Wesleyan University CT · Private	$4,782	$68k	+1243%	+$272k	347% → 2802%
33	CUNY Queens College NY · Public	$1,344	$55k	+1202%	+$32k	-100% → 5000%
34	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL · Public	$4,858	$72k	+1190%	+$266k	421% → 2925%
35	University of Notre Dame IN · Private	$9,872	$89k	+1113%	+$485k	422% → 2084%
36	Columbia University in the City of New York NY · Private	$9,873	$90k	+1069%	+$467k	346% → 2398%
37	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA · Public	$8,818	$88k	+1069%	+$427k	493% → 1960%
38	Boston College MA · Private	$10,212	$93k	+1053%	+$475k	464% → 2207%
39	Bowdoin College ME · Private	$5,626	$67k	+1039%	+$262k	133% → 2646%
40	CUNY Brooklyn College NY · Public	$1,547	$54k	+1031%	+$32k	-100% → 5000%
41	University of Maryland-College Park MD · Public	$6,067	$72k	+999%	+$273k	375% → 2301%
42	Carleton College MN · Private	$6,208	$67k	+965%	+$267k	241% → 2127%
43	University of California-Berkeley CA · Public	$8,450	$80k	+958%	+$368k	334% → 2304%
44	Talmudical Seminary of Bobov NY · Private	$1,779	$36k	+884%	+$31k	-100% → 5000%
45	William & Mary VA · Public	$5,972	$65k	+881%	+$235k	212% → 2312%
46	Middlebury College VT · Private	$6,294	$66k	+872%	+$244k	137% → 2418%
47	University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA · Public	$5,194	$69k	+869%	+$202k	228% → 2638%
48	Harvey Mudd College CA · Private	$15,492	$109k	+858%	+$603k	368% → 1599%
49	University of California-Irvine CA · Public	$6,540	$72k	+839%	+$251k	298% → 2107%
50	Escuela de Artes Plasticas y Diseno de Puerto Rico PR · Public	$1,865	$23k	+838%	+$31k	-100% → -60%
51	California State University-Los Angeles CA · Public	$1,887	$52k	+827%	+$31k	-100% → 4530%
52	West Coast University-Texas TX · For-Profit	$15,468	$97k	+797%	+$566k	314% → 1282%
53	Hamilton College NY · Private	$8,810	$74k	+766%	+$302k	244% → 1793%
54	Emory University GA · Private	$8,538	$72k	+762%	+$293k	305% → 1922%
55	Elizabeth City State University NC · Public	$2,041	$35k	+757%	+$31k	-100% → 1266%
56	Lafayette College PA · Private	$11,728	$85k	+755%	+$396k	395% → 1375%
57	Davidson College NC · Private	$8,872	$72k	+745%	+$296k	281% → 1827%
58	Brigham Young University-Idaho ID · Private	$2,073	$49k	+744%	+$31k	-100% → 4632%
59	Pomona College CA · Private	$8,629	$69k	+739%	+$276k	266% → 1951%
60	University of California-Los Angeles CA · Public	$9,037	$74k	+733%	+$299k	197% → 1725%
61	Ner Israel Rabbinical College MD · Private	$2,141	$61k	+717%	+$31k	-100% → 5000%
62	Northeastern University MA · Private	$10,240	$80k	+716%	+$332k	259% → 1429%
63	Carnegie Mellon University PA · Private	$16,456	$100k	+708%	+$528k	242% → 1504%
64	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX · Public	$2,191	$46k	+699%	+$31k	-100% → 2573%
65	Tufts University MA · Private	$8,122	$67k	+673%	+$248k	80% → 1947%
66	Colgate University NY · Private	$10,762	$76k	+657%	+$314k	237% → 1835%
67	CUNY York College NY · Public	$2,316	$50k	+656%	+$30k	-100% → 2972%
68	University of Richmond VA · Private	$8,010	$69k	+653%	+$237k	159% → 1896%
69	University of California-San Diego CA · Public	$9,823	$75k	+638%	+$280k	200% → 1533%
70	Haverford College PA · Private	$9,357	$69k	+635%	+$268k	229% → 1406%
71	Purdue University-Main Campus IN · Public	$5,995	$65k	+628%	+$174k	178% → 2004%
72	Wake Forest University NC · Private	$10,401	$75k	+627%	+$298k	241% → 1637%
73	Lehigh University PA · Private	$15,561	$95k	+615%	+$432k	301% → 1210%
74	University of Virginia-Main Campus VA · Public	$12,476	$77k	+609%	+$336k	170% → 1266%
75	Michigan Technological University MI · Public	$5,520	$74k	+607%	+$153k	348% → 2268%
76	Babson College MA · Private	$21,453	$107k	+589%	+$569k	150% → 1195%
77	Wellesley College MA · Private	$9,674	$67k	+579%	+$249k	90% → 1490%
78	College of the Holy Cross MA · Private	$14,544	$85k	+573%	+$382k	156% → 1155%
79	California State University-Dominguez Hills CA · Public	$2,657	$47k	+559%	+$30k	-100% → 2693%
80	Indiana University-Northwest IN · Public	$2,714	$42k	+545%	+$30k	-100% → 2115%
81	Haskell Indian Nations University KS · Public	$2,739	$30k	+539%	+$30k	-100% → 722%
82	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis MO · Private	$22,392	$122k	+522%	+$532k	247% → 959%
83	Virginia Military Institute VA · Public	$10,556	$72k	+512%	+$243k	169% → 1013%
84	Bentley University MA · Private	$23,297	$108k	+506%	+$535k	243% → 851%
85	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA · Public	$12,173	$81k	+505%	+$284k	189% → 1232%
86	CUNY New York City College of Technology NY · Public	$2,908	$46k	+502%	+$29k	-100% → 2358%
87	Colegio Universitario de San Juan PR · Public	$236	$26k	+5000%	+$35k	-100% → 1765%
88	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY · Public	$493	$67k	+5000%	+$131k	3155% → 5000%
89	Duke University NC · Private	$371	$93k	+5000%	+$544k	5000% → 5000%
90	Northwestern University IL · Private	$245	$80k	+5000%	+$425k	5000% → 5000%
91	University of Florida FL · Public	$65	$64k	+5000%	+$239k	5000% → 5000%
92	Washington and Lee University VA · Private	$205	$86k	+5000%	+$464k	5000% → 5000%
93	University of California-Davis CA · Public	$10,006	$70k	+489%	+$225k	107% → 1372%
94	Boston University MA · Private	$12,982	$76k	+485%	+$283k	162% → 1139%
95	Colorado School of Mines CO · Public	$16,977	$90k	+473%	+$364k	206% → 996%
96	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art NY · Private	$5,064	$64k	+472%	+$110k	-100% → 3141%
97	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus CT · Public	$3,648	$72k	+467%	+$80k	641% → 3736%
98	Texas A & M International University TX · Public	$3,093	$47k	+466%	+$29k	-100% → 1685%
99	Michigan State University MI · Public	$6,927	$61k	+455%	+$143k	80% → 1572%
100	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA · Public	$11,934	$73k	+452%	+$245k	124% → 1067%

10 Worst ROI Schools (for $0–30k income)

Schools where the Monte Carlo simulation suggests negative returns are most likely

School	Net Price/yr	Net Gain (10yr)	P(Positive)
NUC University PR · For-Profit	$12,086	-$88k	35.8%
EDP University of Puerto Rico Inc-San Sebastian PR · Private	$5,461	-$38k	45.3%
Associated Beth Rivkah Schools NY · Private	$15,501	-$236k	11.1%
Yeshivath Viznitz NY · Private	$7,586	-$34k	41.3%
Beacon College FL · Private	$53,948	-$173k	2.3%
Concorde Career College-Kansas City MO · For-Profit	$26,012	-$88k	3.8%
California Institute of the Arts CA · Private	$52,801	-$71k	23.9%
New York School of Interior Design NY · Private	$48,833	-$63k	30%
Ringling College of Art and Design FL · Private	$47,001	-$59k	29.8%
Southern New Hampshire University NH · Private	$45,135	-$55k	17.8%

Run your own simulation

Choose a specific school and see the full distribution of outcomes.

Open ROI Calculator

Monte Carlo simulation: 10,000 iterations per school. Earnings sampled from College Scorecard percentiles (10th/25th/50th/75th/90th).

Graduation probability from 6-year IPEDS rates. Baseline: $35k/year (high school graduate median). Net price from College Scorecard by income bracket.