Best ROI Colleges for $48–75k 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 $48,000–$75,000.

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

1,574

Schools Simulated

5000%

#1 Median ROI

$708k

#1 Net Gain

79.5%

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	Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA · Private	$2,834	$111k	+5000%	+$708k	2299% → 5000%
2	Harvard University MA · Private	$2,669	$85k	+4116%	+$471k	1628% → 5000%
3	Yale University CT · Private	$2,815	$89k	+4054%	+$500k	1739% → 5000%
4	McDaniel College MD · Private	$729	$55k	+2301%	+$34k	650% → 5000%
5	Princeton University NJ · Private	$5,542	$96k	+2237%	+$555k	567% → 5000%
6	Stanford University CA · Private	$7,081	$98k	+1796%	+$557k	717% → 4265%
7	Duke University NC · Private	$7,160	$93k	+1623%	+$513k	658% → 3617%
8	Northwestern University IL · Private	$5,849	$80k	+1558%	+$396k	568% → 3602%
9	Washington and Lee University VA · Private	$6,505	$86k	+1502%	+$436k	622% → 3358%
10	California Institute of Technology CA · Private	$9,755	$112k	+1452%	+$639k	578% → 2953%
11	Rice University TX · Private	$6,152	$78k	+1352%	+$364k	450% → 3337%
12	Columbia University in the City of New York NY · Private	$8,106	$90k	+1307%	+$474k	434% → 2884%
13	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering MA · Private	$14,300	$133k	+1291%	+$849k	699% → 2123%
14	Williams College MA · Private	$5,576	$72k	+1290%	+$319k	378% → 3019%
15	United States Merchant Marine Academy NY · Public	$6,615	$83k	+1196%	+$360k	698% → 2845%
16	Washington University in St Louis MO · Private	$8,149	$83k	+1139%	+$412k	426% → 2377%
17	Johns Hopkins University MD · Private	$8,457	$83k	+1129%	+$426k	505% → 2199%
18	Colby College ME · Private	$5,536	$71k	+1119%	+$282k	259% → 2661%
19	University of Pennsylvania PA · Private	$12,020	$103k	+1114%	+$594k	430% → 2530%
20	Cornell University NY · Private	$9,785	$91k	+1086%	+$472k	399% → 2407%
21	Vanderbilt University TN · Private	$7,694	$80k	+1075%	+$373k	400% → 2423%
22	University of Chicago IL · Private	$8,375	$77k	+965%	+$355k	303% → 2467%
23	Georgetown University DC · Private	$12,505	$96k	+886%	+$496k	341% → 1967%
24	Amherst College MA · Private	$7,793	$72k	+880%	+$303k	219% → 2273%
25	Dartmouth College NH · Private	$12,172	$92k	+855%	+$465k	284% → 2026%
26	Brown University RI · Private	$10,219	$79k	+819%	+$367k	233% → 2031%
27	Massachusetts Maritime Academy MA · Public	$12,099	$92k	+782%	+$425k	444% → 1537%
28	Colegio Universitario de San Juan PR · Public	$2,021	$26k	+766%	+$31k	-100% → 122%
29	Harvey Mudd College CA · Private	$18,077	$109k	+755%	+$605k	306% → 1386%
30	University of Notre Dame IN · Private	$14,020	$89k	+740%	+$462k	270% → 1432%
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI · Public	$10,481	$76k	+705%	+$327k	205% → 1515%
32	Davidson College NC · Private	$9,835	$72k	+675%	+$293k	259% → 1635%
33	Pomona College CA · Private	$9,365	$69k	+674%	+$274k	222% → 1770%
34	Lafayette College PA · Private	$13,393	$85k	+659%	+$398k	349% → 1208%
35	Wake Forest University NC · Private	$10,228	$75k	+637%	+$292k	234% → 1649%
36	Swarthmore College PA · Private	$11,521	$73k	+615%	+$310k	195% → 1298%
37	Boston College MA · Private	$17,098	$93k	+577%	+$440k	233% → 1285%
38	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA · Public	$15,415	$88k	+573%	+$406k	247% → 1088%
39	University of California-Berkeley CA · Public	$13,423	$80k	+555%	+$334k	163% → 1368%
40	Claremont McKenna College CA · Private	$15,962	$87k	+554%	+$398k	225% → 1220%
41	University of Florida FL · Public	$8,394	$64k	+521%	+$198k	83% → 1459%
42	Lehigh University PA · Private	$19,026	$95k	+517%	+$441k	245% → 974%
43	University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA · Public	$8,393	$69k	+517%	+$201k	157% → 1604%
44	Bates College ME · Private	$9,845	$65k	+516%	+$227k	128% → 1272%
45	Carnegie Mellon University PA · Private	$21,526	$100k	+513%	+$498k	157% → 1118%
46	Wellesley College MA · Private	$10,792	$67k	+502%	+$240k	78% → 1306%
47	University of California-Los Angeles CA · Public	$12,644	$74k	+497%	+$282k	117% → 1194%
48	Hamilton College NY · Private	$13,321	$74k	+465%	+$278k	119% → 1151%
49	Purdue University-Main Campus IN · Public	$8,450	$65k	+456%	+$174k	85% → 1425%
50	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL · Public	$11,505	$72k	+451%	+$234k	116% → 1153%
51	Babson College MA · Private	$26,552	$107k	+447%	+$536k	93% → 954%
52	Wesleyan University CT · Private	$11,936	$68k	+433%	+$234k	69% → 1062%
53	University of Wisconsin-Madison WI · Public	$10,364	$65k	+429%	+$200k	114% → 1151%
54	William & Mary VA · Public	$10,995	$65k	+426%	+$210k	48% → 1202%
55	University of Virginia-Main Campus VA · Public	$16,019	$77k	+425%	+$302k	92% → 971%
56	University of California-San Diego CA · Public	$14,310	$75k	+402%	+$261k	106% → 1034%
57	College of the Holy Cross MA · Private	$20,142	$85k	+390%	+$356k	95% → 821%
58	Middlebury College VT · Private	$13,580	$66k	+365%	+$220k	34% → 1048%
59	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis MO · Private	$30,759	$122k	+362%	+$506k	167% → 673%
60	Virginia Military Institute VA · Public	$13,613	$72k	+362%	+$227k	87% → 769%
61	Northeastern University MA · Private	$18,389	$80k	+359%	+$300k	106% → 747%
62	Bentley University MA · Private	$31,754	$108k	+355%	+$511k	149% → 606%
63	University of California-Irvine CA · Public	$13,275	$72k	+354%	+$219k	90% → 981%
64	Colgate University NY · Private	$17,557	$76k	+349%	+$269k	90% → 1077%
65	Emory University GA · Private	$16,646	$72k	+340%	+$250k	101% → 933%
66	Bowdoin College ME · Private	$14,896	$67k	+338%	+$224k	1% → 936%
67	Stevens Institute of Technology NJ · Private	$28,483	$98k	+335%	+$431k	170% → 598%
68	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC · Public	$11,619	$62k	+334%	+$176k	26% → 1016%
69	University of California-Davis CA · Public	$14,193	$70k	+333%	+$214k	61% → 957%
70	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY · Public	$7,187	$67k	+330%	+$107k	147% → 1777%
71	Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences NY · Private	$28,351	$119k	+329%	+$430k	205% → 742%
72	Talmudical Seminary of Bobov NY · Private	$4,134	$36k	+323%	+$27k	-100% → 2118%
73	University of Southern California CA · Private	$22,826	$83k	+323%	+$329k	51% → 786%
74	University of Florida-Online FL · Public	$8,251	$64k	+319%	+$120k	127% → 1662%
75	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA · Public	$17,340	$81k	+316%	+$250k	91% → 836%
76	Boston University MA · Private	$18,458	$76k	+312%	+$259k	93% → 774%
77	Texas A & M International University TX · Public	$4,262	$47k	+311%	+$26k	-100% → 1200%
78	Carleton College MN · Private	$15,991	$67k	+299%	+$214k	24% → 753%
79	Villanova University PA · Private	$28,580	$91k	+296%	+$382k	102% → 588%
80	Haverford College PA · Private	$17,402	$69k	+291%	+$227k	65% → 707%
81	Santa Clara University CA · Private	$29,618	$93k	+288%	+$381k	71% → 602%
82	University of Maryland-College Park MD · Public	$17,360	$72k	+284%	+$221k	72% → 745%
83	Colorado School of Mines CO · Public	$24,461	$90k	+281%	+$313k	108% → 663%
84	Bucknell University PA · Private	$26,956	$88k	+279%	+$335k	90% → 638%
85	University of Richmond VA · Private	$16,063	$69k	+279%	+$202k	32% → 890%
86	Case Western Reserve University OH · Private	$19,864	$78k	+275%	+$253k	82% → 718%
87	Connecticut College CT · Private	$16,044	$71k	+268%	+$198k	108% → 861%
88	George Washington University DC · Private	$21,174	$81k	+267%	+$253k	57% → 764%
89	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY · Private	$29,788	$93k	+264%	+$361k	110% → 540%
90	The University of Texas at Austin TX · Public	$16,134	$68k	+264%	+$193k	31% → 804%
91	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art NY · Private	$8,576	$64k	+248%	+$101k	-100% → 1787%
92	Fairfield University CT · Private	$25,929	$86k	+247%	+$292k	116% → 601%
93	Franklin and Marshall College PA · Private	$18,814	$72k	+247%	+$213k	68% → 655%
94	Chamberlain University-Texas TX · For-Profit	$27,852	$78k	+245%	+$308k	48% → 391%
95	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA · Public	$18,372	$73k	+244%	+$204k	28% → 661%
96	Missouri University of Science and Technology MO · Public	$11,656	$80k	+242%	+$127k	209% → 1118%
97	Barnard College NY · Private	$19,810	$72k	+240%	+$215k	-1% → 764%
98	Haskell Indian Nations University KS · Public	$5,249	$30k	+233%	+$25k	-100% → 316%
99	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN · Public	$12,911	$61k	+233%	+$136k	-6% → 744%
100	University of California-Santa Barbara CA · Public	$14,583	$66k	+232%	+$154k	16% → 799%

10 Worst ROI Schools (for $48–75k 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	$15,657	-$101k	34.8%
EDP University of Puerto Rico Inc-San Sebastian PR · Private	$4,761	-$39k	45.9%
Associated Beth Rivkah Schools NY · Private	$16,869	-$245k	10.6%
Yeshivath Viznitz NY · Private	$10,104	-$45k	40.4%
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts PA · Private	$47,344	-$159k	4.1%
Beacon College FL · Private	$53,765	-$175k	2.5%
Concorde Career College-Kansas City MO · For-Profit	$28,113	-$92k	3.3%
California Institute of the Arts CA · Private	$55,675	-$76k	24.2%
Berklee College of Music MA · Private	$56,985	-$79k	13.6%
Ringling College of Art and Design FL · Private	$51,025	-$67k	28.3%

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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.