Best Value Colleges for Agricultural Public Services
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
12
Schools Ranked
$36,019
Avg. Earnings
7.2 yrs
Best Payback
335
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 | Major Earnings | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public | $45,529 | 7.2 yrs |
| 2 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public | $44,384 | 7.4 yrs |
| 3 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public | $41,565 | 8.6 yrs |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public | $39,639 | 8.9 yrs |
| 5 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public | $38,289 | 14 yrs |
| 6 | University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public | $38,289 | 19.8 yrs |
| 7 | University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public | $35,594 | 94.3 yrs |
| 8 | Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public | $35,594 | 118 yrs |
| 9 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN · Public | $32,569 | N/A |
| 10 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public | $28,960 | N/A |
| 11 | West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public | $30,771 | N/A |
| 12 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public | $21,052 | N/A |
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.