Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management

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

Schools Ranked

$27,296

Avg. Earnings

14.5 yrs

Best Payback

2,749

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	The New School New York, NY · Private	$40,659	$46,217	14.5 yrs
2	Wagner College Staten Island, NY · Private	$27,193	$39,585	23.7 yrs
3	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$36,848	50.9 yrs
4	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$25,194	N/A
5	Pace University New York, NY · Private	$28,066	$29,685	N/A
6	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$32,658	N/A
7	Berklee College of Music Boston, MA · Private	$56,985	$31,914	N/A
8	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$33,921	$29,685	N/A
9	Belmont University Nashville, TN · Private	$26,313	$31,486	N/A
10	College of Charleston Charleston, SC · Public	$20,142	$27,822	N/A
11	SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY · Public	$18,347	$30,475	N/A
12	SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, NY · Public	$15,292	$26,739	N/A
13	Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL · Private	$26,626	$27,507	N/A
14	University of New Haven West Haven, CT · Private	$35,331	$23,456	N/A
15	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI · Public	$13,560	$22,329	N/A
16	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public	$16,708	$26,353	N/A
17	Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI · Public	$13,230	$25,194	N/A
18	University of North Alabama Florence, AL · Public	$15,060	$25,194	N/A
19	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	$18,271	$31,495	N/A
20	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	$14,498	$26,933	N/A
21	Howard University Washington, DC · Private	$43,093	$20,140	N/A
22	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	$13,769	$28,236	N/A
23	Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams, MA · Public	$16,502	$25,194	N/A
24	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Green Bay, WI · Public	$13,258	$26,739	N/A
25	Loyola University New Orleans New Orleans, LA · Private	$17,504	$14,442	N/A
26	Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL · Private	$18,435	$24,035	N/A
27	University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS · Public	$14,959	$21,508	N/A
28	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public	$12,323	$20,687	N/A
29	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	$14,424	$19,227	N/A
30	Randolph-Macon College Ashland, VA · Private	$22,621	$33,993	N/A
31	Lindenwood University Saint Charles, MO · Private	$15,749	$32,925	N/A
32	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT · Private	$27,606	$31,305	N/A
33	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	$9,017	$29,685	N/A
34	Elon University Elon, NC · Private	$29,909	$29,685	N/A
35	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ · Private	$25,864	$28,236	N/A
36	Champlain College Burlington, VT · Private	$32,288	$25,967	N/A
37	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public	$10,682	$21,508	N/A
38	Pennsylvania Western University California, PA · Public	$17,695	$21,508	N/A
39	Ringling College of Art and Design Sarasota, FL · Private	$51,025	$20,140	N/A

Top Earners in Arts, Entertainment,and Media 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.