Best ROI Colleges for $75–110k 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 $75,000–$110,000.

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

1,528

Schools Simulated

1069%

#1 Median ROI

$468k

#1 Net Gain

73.1%

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	Yale University CT · Private	$10,008	$89k	+1069%	+$468k	429% → 2389%
2	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering MA · Private	$17,308	$133k	+1055%	+$841k	558% → 1758%
3	Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA · Private	$14,291	$111k	+1024%	+$656k	368% → 2084%
4	Stanford University CA · Private	$13,623	$98k	+903%	+$534k	328% → 2165%
5	United States Merchant Marine Academy NY · Public	$9,565	$83k	+759%	+$336k	427% → 1899%
6	California Institute of Technology CA · Private	$20,010	$112k	+655%	+$591k	232% → 1382%
7	Washington and Lee University VA · Private	$13,860	$86k	+654%	+$397k	237% → 1524%
8	Princeton University NJ · Private	$18,205	$96k	+638%	+$520k	104% → 1530%
9	Dartmouth College NH · Private	$16,661	$92k	+622%	+$457k	211% → 1494%
10	Duke University NC · Private	$18,113	$93k	+591%	+$473k	219% → 1401%
11	University of Pennsylvania PA · Private	$20,957	$103k	+591%	+$544k	202% → 1400%
12	Columbia University in the City of New York NY · Private	$16,916	$90k	+580%	+$436k	151% → 1338%
13	Northwestern University IL · Private	$15,686	$80k	+511%	+$348k	171% → 1258%
14	Harvey Mudd College CA · Private	$25,320	$109k	+497%	+$567k	187% → 949%
15	University of Notre Dame IN · Private	$18,969	$89k	+497%	+$421k	155% → 1007%
16	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA · Public	$17,557	$88k	+489%	+$385k	192% → 936%
17	Harvard University MA · Private	$20,059	$85k	+475%	+$410k	127% → 1305%
18	Vanderbilt University TN · Private	$15,636	$80k	+472%	+$334k	123% → 1133%
19	Cornell University NY · Private	$21,043	$91k	+459%	+$430k	148% → 1070%
20	Colby College ME · Private	$12,188	$71k	+440%	+$243k	49% → 1148%
21	Johns Hopkins University MD · Private	$18,951	$83k	+439%	+$369k	162% → 908%
22	Williams College MA · Private	$14,702	$72k	+438%	+$283k	89% → 1079%
23	Lafayette College PA · Private	$19,462	$85k	+424%	+$366k	203% → 798%
24	Massachusetts Maritime Academy MA · Public	$20,918	$92k	+420%	+$396k	235% → 864%
25	Boston College MA · Private	$23,632	$93k	+400%	+$421k	132% → 897%
26	Babson College MA · Private	$29,192	$107k	+393%	+$523k	76% → 850%
27	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI · Public	$17,207	$76k	+374%	+$289k	79% → 878%
28	University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis MO · Private	$29,318	$122k	+371%	+$492k	172% → 711%
29	Georgetown University DC · Private	$27,034	$96k	+367%	+$441k	106% → 886%
30	Rice University TX · Private	$19,697	$78k	+346%	+$300k	76% → 961%
31	University of Chicago IL · Private	$19,895	$77k	+343%	+$301k	56% → 944%
32	Carnegie Mellon University PA · Private	$31,094	$100k	+341%	+$472k	98% → 752%
33	Talmudical Seminary of Bobov NY · Private	$4,042	$36k	+333%	+$27k	-100% → 2070%
34	Lehigh University PA · Private	$27,212	$95k	+329%	+$403k	135% → 655%
35	University of Florida FL · Public	$12,874	$64k	+327%	+$192k	37% → 980%
36	Washington University in St Louis MO · Private	$23,508	$83k	+323%	+$338k	85% → 759%
37	University of California-Berkeley CA · Public	$21,601	$80k	+317%	+$306k	58% → 826%
38	Colegio Universitario de San Juan PR · Public	$4,218	$26k	+315%	+$27k	-100% → -17%
39	Brown University RI · Private	$23,160	$79k	+310%	+$308k	59% → 840%
40	Davidson College NC · Private	$18,982	$72k	+296%	+$247k	75% → 804%
41	University of Virginia-Main Campus VA · Public	$22,021	$77k	+294%	+$288k	59% → 683%
42	Pomona College CA · Private	$18,763	$69k	+292%	+$236k	72% → 836%
43	Claremont McKenna College CA · Private	$28,087	$87k	+273%	+$340k	83% → 653%
44	Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences NY · Private	$31,966	$119k	+269%	+$399k	172% → 652%
45	University of California-Los Angeles CA · Public	$20,697	$74k	+264%	+$243k	22% → 701%
46	Stevens Institute of Technology NJ · Private	$34,577	$98k	+256%	+$400k	120% → 471%
47	Bentley University MA · Private	$40,226	$108k	+252%	+$460k	95% → 449%
48	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY · Private	$31,589	$93k	+247%	+$352k	97% → 494%
49	Amherst College MA · Private	$21,718	$72k	+245%	+$236k	14% → 755%
50	Wesleyan University CT · Private	$17,900	$68k	+245%	+$201k	16% → 674%
51	University of California-San Diego CA · Public	$20,906	$75k	+243%	+$229k	44% → 678%
52	University of Florida-Online FL · Public	$9,320	$64k	+238%	+$100k	65% → 1418%
53	Santa Clara University CA · Private	$34,770	$93k	+236%	+$371k	39% → 497%
54	Northeastern University MA · Private	$25,452	$80k	+235%	+$268k	51% → 510%
55	Virginia Military Institute VA · Public	$18,173	$72k	+234%	+$195k	36% → 553%
56	Colgate University NY · Private	$24,602	$76k	+226%	+$248k	44% → 750%
57	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY · Public	$9,059	$67k	+221%	+$92k	83% → 1385%
58	Hamilton College NY · Private	$24,161	$74k	+217%	+$233k	24% → 591%
59	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA · Public	$22,744	$81k	+215%	+$225k	35% → 613%
60	Villanova University PA · Private	$36,160	$91k	+215%	+$347k	61% → 448%
61	College of the Holy Cross MA · Private	$31,109	$85k	+212%	+$299k	23% → 492%
62	Middlebury College VT · Private	$20,196	$66k	+212%	+$191k	-26% → 676%
63	Wake Forest University NC · Private	$24,718	$75k	+204%	+$227k	40% → 627%
64	University of California-Davis CA · Public	$18,728	$70k	+203%	+$175k	5% → 698%
65	Bowdoin College ME · Private	$22,177	$67k	+202%	+$202k	-33% → 614%
66	Fairfield University CT · Private	$30,670	$86k	+200%	+$280k	90% → 494%
67	University of California-Irvine CA · Public	$20,567	$72k	+200%	+$187k	15% → 601%
68	University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA · Public	$16,894	$69k	+199%	+$150k	22% → 740%
69	Colorado School of Mines CO · Public	$31,412	$90k	+198%	+$287k	62% → 493%
70	Emory University GA · Private	$24,104	$72k	+198%	+$216k	29% → 620%
71	Haverford College PA · Private	$23,492	$69k	+196%	+$201k	29% → 493%
72	University of Southern California CA · Private	$32,363	$83k	+196%	+$284k	22% → 527%
73	University of Maryland-College Park MD · Public	$23,215	$72k	+194%	+$205k	36% → 534%
74	University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla PR · Public	$5,984	$24k	+192%	+$23k	-100% → 28%
75	Swarthmore College PA · Private	$28,214	$73k	+191%	+$235k	17% → 471%
76	William & Mary VA · Public	$19,472	$65k	+191%	+$166k	-8% → 635%
77	Carleton College MN · Private	$22,868	$67k	+187%	+$191k	-9% → 505%
78	Haskell Indian Nations University KS · Public	$6,109	$30k	+186%	+$23k	-100% → 253%
79	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL · Public	$22,400	$72k	+185%	+$188k	23% → 539%
80	The University of Texas at Austin TX · Public	$20,425	$68k	+182%	+$169k	1% → 629%
81	Wellesley College MA · Private	$22,704	$67k	+181%	+$182k	-11% → 556%
82	SUNY Maritime College NY · Public	$21,855	$84k	+180%	+$181k	105% → 717%
83	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology IN · Private	$39,401	$94k	+178%	+$322k	93% → 331%
84	University of Richmond VA · Private	$22,625	$69k	+176%	+$180k	-7% → 610%
85	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC · Public	$19,088	$62k	+175%	+$149k	-6% → 573%
86	Bucknell University PA · Private	$37,106	$88k	+174%	+$289k	34% → 435%
87	Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA · Private	$40,094	$89k	+166%	+$301k	55% → 314%
88	George Washington University DC · Private	$29,225	$81k	+164%	+$215k	23% → 522%
89	Purdue University-Main Campus IN · Public	$17,124	$65k	+164%	+$128k	0% → 653%
90	Mississippi Valley State University MS · Public	$6,689	$30k	+162%	+$22k	-100% → 214%
91	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA · Public	$23,999	$73k	+154%	+$167k	-6% → 481%
92	Alcorn State University MS · Public	$6,943	$33k	+152%	+$21k	-100% → 377%
93	Boston University MA · Private	$29,925	$76k	+151%	+$202k	14% → 434%
94	Binghamton University NY · Public	$22,259	$73k	+148%	+$152k	2% → 561%
95	Franklin and Marshall College PA · Private	$26,837	$72k	+148%	+$178k	20% → 434%
96	Case Western Reserve University OH · Private	$29,971	$78k	+147%	+$201k	15% → 437%
97	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art NY · Private	$13,198	$64k	+147%	+$90k	-100% → 1129%
98	Berea College KY · Private	$7,113	$37k	+146%	+$21k	-100% → 417%
99	Barnard College NY · Private	$27,709	$72k	+145%	+$182k	-26% → 519%
100	Brandeis University MA · Private	$27,781	$70k	+144%	+$179k	10% → 480%

10 Worst ROI Schools (for $75–110k 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	$18,302	-$112k	2.1%
Associated Beth Rivkah Schools NY · Private	$17,935	-$248k	0.3%
Yeshivath Viznitz NY · Private	$15,131	-$70k	39%
Concorde Career College-Kansas City MO · For-Profit	$29,534	-$105k	2.8%
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts PA · Private	$52,397	-$166k	3.2%
California Institute of the Arts CA · Private	$58,534	-$82k	23%
Berklee College of Music MA · Private	$55,760	-$77k	14.3%
School of Visual Arts NY · For-Profit	$54,538	-$74k	28.7%
Ringling College of Art and Design FL · Private	$54,173	-$73k	27.2%
Moore College of Art and Design PA · Private	$51,410	-$68k	10.7%

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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.