Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Chemistry

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

50

Schools Ranked

$37,391

Avg. Earnings

2.3 yrs

Best Payback

7,096

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	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$57,318	2.3 yrs
2	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private	$5,849	$44,971	2.3 yrs
3	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	$5,452	$43,798	2.5 yrs
4	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$51,106	3.3 yrs
5	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public	$10,194	$47,260	3.3 yrs
6	Hamilton College Clinton, NY · Private	$13,321	$51,273	3.3 yrs
7	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$47,260	3.4 yrs
8	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA · Private	$21,526	$57,318	3.9 yrs
9	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO · Public	$11,656	$46,478	4.1 yrs
10	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$49,058	4.2 yrs
11	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private	$17,098	$51,273	4.2 yrs
12	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	$17,260	$50,856	4.4 yrs
13	Worcester State University Worcester, MA · Public	$16,479	$49,644	4.5 yrs
14	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$44,861	4.7 yrs
15	University of North Alabama Florence, AL · Public	$15,060	$47,260	4.9 yrs
16	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	$14,583	$46,620	5 yrs
17	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	$15,406	$47,260	5 yrs
18	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$50,856	5 yrs
19	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO · Public	$14,111	$46,087	5.1 yrs
20	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA · Public	$20,726	$50,856	5.2 yrs
21	West Virginia University Institute of Technology Beckley, WV · Public	$10,775	$43,314	5.2 yrs
22	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$45,852	5.4 yrs
23	Lindenwood University Saint Charles, MO · Private	$15,749	$46,673	5.4 yrs
24	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	$20,840	$49,683	5.7 yrs
25	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$48,432	5.7 yrs
26	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public	$9,505	$41,565	5.8 yrs
27	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	$13,198	$44,021	5.9 yrs
28	University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, WI · Public	$13,699	$44,189	6 yrs
29	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV · Public	$13,077	$43,314	6.3 yrs
30	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	$12,224	$42,682	6.4 yrs
31	Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA · Public	$22,881	$49,019	6.5 yrs
32	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	$12,602	$42,682	6.6 yrs
33	Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL · Public	$12,950	$42,682	6.7 yrs
34	University of Houston-Downtown Houston, TX · Public	$15,426	$44,170	6.7 yrs
35	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$45,808	6.8 yrs
36	Salem State University Salem, MA · Public	$18,141	$45,696	6.8 yrs
37	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI · Public	$11,794	$41,937	6.8 yrs
38	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC · Private	$10,228	$41,025	6.8 yrs
39	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College Erie, PA · Public	$21,255	$47,260	6.9 yrs
40	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	$18,606	$45,808	6.9 yrs
41	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$44,356	6.9 yrs
42	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX · Public	$19,287	$45,696	7.2 yrs
43	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Green Bay, WI · Public	$13,258	$42,123	7.4 yrs
44	Beloit College Beloit, WI · Private	$10,850	$40,821	7.5 yrs
45	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$46,087	7.6 yrs
46	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public	$20,867	$45,794	7.7 yrs
47	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY · Private	$27,131	$49,058	7.7 yrs
48	University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Public	$11,291	$40,896	7.7 yrs
49	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$44,021	7.8 yrs
50	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$42,682	7.8 yrs

Top Earners in Chemistry

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.