Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Agricultural Business and Management

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$42,518

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

4,743

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$80,747	<1 yr
2	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private	$5,422	$49,136	1.5 yrs
3	University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN · Public	$9,084	$50,856	2.3 yrs
4	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$53,858	2.4 yrs
5	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$47,260	2.6 yrs
6	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$53,984	2.7 yrs
7	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$46,899	2.8 yrs
8	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$57,149	3.1 yrs
9	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$45,584	3.2 yrs
10	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$52,733	3.8 yrs
11	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public	$16,256	$50,856	4.1 yrs
12	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$48,041	4.2 yrs
13	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$43,798	4.3 yrs
14	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$44,468	4.4 yrs
15	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$48,432	4.4 yrs
16	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$49,270	4.5 yrs
17	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$46,673	4.5 yrs
18	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$43,798	4.6 yrs
19	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public	$13,715	$46,673	4.7 yrs
20	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$43,798	4.8 yrs
21	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	$16,667	$48,342	5 yrs
22	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$46,321	5.4 yrs
23	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$50,356	5.4 yrs
24	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$46,087	5.4 yrs
25	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	$20,797	$49,370	5.8 yrs
26	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	$16,738	$46,087	6 yrs
27	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	$13,553	$43,798	6.2 yrs
28	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	$12,127	$42,682	6.3 yrs
29	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$44,170	6.6 yrs
30	University of Wisconsin-River Falls River Falls, WI · Public	$14,528	$43,798	6.6 yrs
31	Dordt University Sioux Center, IA · Private	$23,412	$48,823	6.8 yrs
32	Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN · Public	$12,156	$42,123	6.8 yrs
33	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$45,128	6.9 yrs
34	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$45,149	6.9 yrs
35	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$43,798	6.9 yrs
36	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$43,798	6.9 yrs
37	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public	$18,826	$45,340	7.3 yrs
38	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	$14,424	$42,682	7.5 yrs
39	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	$15,394	$43,087	7.6 yrs
40	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	$18,449	$44,384	7.9 yrs
41	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public	$14,196	$41,937	8.2 yrs
42	Southern Arkansas University Main Campus Magnolia, AR · Public	$16,889	$42,682	8.8 yrs
43	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$43,798	9.2 yrs
44	University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public	$13,998	$41,007	9.3 yrs
45	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$43,314	9.4 yrs
46	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	$18,372	$42,682	9.6 yrs
47	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$38,289	11.4 yrs
48	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	$14,499	$40,017	11.6 yrs
49	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	$11,116	$38,829	11.6 yrs
50	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	$20,523	$41,937	11.8 yrs

Top Earners in Agricultural Business and Management

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.