Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Air Transportation

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

49

Schools Ranked

$44,748

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

5,965

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	Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM · Public	$10,322	$97,959	<1 yr
2	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$56,415	2.6 yrs
3	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$51,106	3.7 yrs
4	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$46,869	4.5 yrs
5	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public	$14,547	$47,260	4.7 yrs
6	University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE · Public	$13,574	$46,673	4.7 yrs
7	Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA · Public	$11,505	$44,356	4.9 yrs
8	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$41,789	5 yrs
9	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$44,984	5.2 yrs
10	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL · Private	$19,339	$48,833	5.6 yrs
11	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$47,260	5.6 yrs
12	Everglades University Boca Raton, FL · Private	$32,080	$57,318	5.7 yrs
13	Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY · Public	$10,914	$42,682	5.7 yrs
14	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$46,478	5.9 yrs
15	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$5,700	$38,829	6 yrs
16	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public	$23,509	$50,465	6.1 yrs
17	Rocky Mountain College Billings, MT · Private	$18,472	$46,478	6.4 yrs
18	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	$14,498	$43,240	7 yrs
19	Lewis University Romeoville, IL · Private	$17,336	$44,542	7.3 yrs
20	Florida Institute of Technology-Online Melbourne, FL · Private	$23,837	$47,650	7.5 yrs
21	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$43,368	7.6 yrs
22	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$42,682	7.6 yrs
23	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	$18,606	$44,384	7.9 yrs
24	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK · Public	$21,725	$45,715	8.1 yrs
25	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	$20,840	$45,044	8.3 yrs
26	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public	$19,508	$44,356	8.3 yrs
27	Liberty University Lynchburg, VA · Private	$27,305	$46,924	9.2 yrs
28	Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL · Private	$22,820	$44,835	9.3 yrs
29	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL · Private	$30,375	$47,650	9.6 yrs
30	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott Prescott, AZ · Private	$33,894	$48,833	9.8 yrs
31	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$41,937	10 yrs
32	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL · Private	$35,468	$48,833	10.3 yrs
33	Middle Georgia State University Macon, GA · Public	$11,530	$39,369	10.6 yrs
34	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA · Public	$18,485	$41,565	11.3 yrs
35	Westminster University Salt Lake City, UT · Private	$22,177	$42,682	11.5 yrs
36	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	$14,499	$39,950	11.7 yrs
37	University of Dubuque Dubuque, IA · Private	$26,807	$43,798	12.2 yrs
38	LeTourneau University Longview, TX · Private	$23,593	$41,565	14.4 yrs
39	Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY · Public	$14,287	$38,721	15.4 yrs
40	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN · Public	$15,588	$38,937	15.8 yrs
41	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$38,072	20.3 yrs
42	Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Flushing, NY · Private	$40,643	$39,523	35.9 yrs
43	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	$14,127	$36,141	49.5 yrs
44	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	$13,553	$35,416	130.3 yrs
45	University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD · Public	$17,949	$28,598	N/A
46	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY · Public	$9,462	$32,653	N/A
47	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon Bayamon, PR · Private	$10,486	$24,035	N/A
48	Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City, NC · Public	$5,604	$26,353	N/A
49	Texas Southern University Houston, TX · Public	$23,173	$35,060	N/A

Top Earners in Air Transportation

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

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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.