Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Biomedical/Medical Engineering

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

50

Schools Ranked

$57,684

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

4,700

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	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private	$5,849	$76,460	<1 yr
2	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$75,114	<1 yr
3	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$70,680	<1 yr
4	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private	$8,457	$72,509	<1 yr
5	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private	$12,020	$82,440	1 yrs
6	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	$11,189	$73,949	1.1 yrs
7	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$71,015	1.2 yrs
8	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$74,576	1.2 yrs
9	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$63,997	1.2 yrs
10	University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI · Public	$12,398	$77,401	1.2 yrs
11	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$56,776	1.3 yrs
12	Rice University Houston, TX · Private	$6,152	$52,107	1.4 yrs
13	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI · Public	$11,794	$66,461	1.5 yrs
14	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$58,866	1.6 yrs
15	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$64,990	1.7 yrs
16	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$58,866	1.7 yrs
17	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private	$8,106	$53,810	1.7 yrs
18	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$73,635	1.8 yrs
19	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$58,866	1.8 yrs
20	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$12,644	$61,020	1.9 yrs
21	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$63,005	1.9 yrs
22	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	$15,415	$68,305	1.9 yrs
23	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$68,778	1.9 yrs
24	Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Public	$13,306	$63,005	1.9 yrs
25	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$67,101	1.9 yrs
26	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$55,964	2 yrs
27	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$68,918	2.1 yrs
28	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$69,338	2.2 yrs
29	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA · Private	$19,026	$67,660	2.3 yrs
30	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$67,660	2.3 yrs
31	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$69,338	2.5 yrs
32	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$58,866	2.5 yrs
33	University of Toledo Toledo, OH · Public	$17,555	$63,501	2.5 yrs
34	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$55,964	2.6 yrs
35	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	$14,310	$55,964	2.7 yrs
36	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	$18,131	$61,814	2.7 yrs
37	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private	$19,864	$63,997	2.7 yrs
38	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	$14,424	$55,964	2.8 yrs
39	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	$13,842	$54,035	2.9 yrs
40	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ · Public	$18,451	$60,771	2.9 yrs
41	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC · Private	$27,084	$71,015	3 yrs
42	Indiana Institute of Technology Fort Wayne, IN · Private	$20,650	$62,260	3 yrs
43	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$69,817	3.1 yrs
44	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO · Public	$24,461	$66,541	3.1 yrs
45	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	$20,797	$61,516	3.1 yrs
46	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	$11,126	$49,214	3.1 yrs
47	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	$14,105	$53,358	3.1 yrs
48	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$54,974	3.2 yrs
49	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	$17,260	$56,415	3.2 yrs
50	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ · Private	$28,483	$71,015	3.2 yrs

Top Earners in Biomedical/Medical Engineering

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.