Best Value Colleges for Architectural Sciences and Technology
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
8
Schools Ranked
$45,453
Avg. Earnings
<1 yr
Best Payback
553
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 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public | $72,134 | <1 yr |
| 2 | CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY · Public | $42,235 | 4.7 yrs |
| 3 | New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, NY · Private | $45,696 | 7.6 yrs |
| 4 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public | $44,776 | 8.8 yrs |
| 5 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY · Public | $41,937 | 10.1 yrs |
| 6 | Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA · Private | $42,682 | 12.3 yrs |
| 7 | Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL · Private | $42,682 | 19.4 yrs |
| 8 | Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA · Private | $39,369 | 40.9 yrs |
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.