Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Computer and Information Sciences, General

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

50

Schools Ranked

$59,261

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

46,725

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	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private	$2,815	$122,038	<1 yr
2	Rice University Houston, TX · Private	$6,152	$129,481	<1 yr
3	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA · Private	$9,755	$155,297	<1 yr
4	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private	$12,020	$138,932	<1 yr
5	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private	$8,457	$108,649	<1 yr
6	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private	$5,422	$73,635	<1 yr
7	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$12,644	$110,878	<1 yr
8	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$94,281	<1 yr
9	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$79,037	<1 yr
10	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private	$10,792	$86,867	<1 yr
11	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA · Private	$11,521	$94,408	<1 yr
12	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$82,641	<1 yr
13	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$79,037	<1 yr
14	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$120,462	<1 yr
15	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$71,575	<1 yr
16	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	$8,147	$71,575	<1 yr
17	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN · Private	$14,020	$89,968	1 yrs
18	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$75,282	1 yrs
19	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	$9,439	$71,575	1 yrs
20	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$68,499	1 yrs
21	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	$15,415	$91,152	1.1 yrs
22	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$92,077	1.1 yrs
23	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$67,846	1.1 yrs
24	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	$14,193	$81,609	1.2 yrs
25	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$67,846	1.2 yrs
26	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private	$12,676	$76,460	1.2 yrs
27	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$67,846	1.3 yrs
28	Truman State University Kirksville, MO · Public	$12,654	$73,530	1.3 yrs
29	Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public	$13,612	$76,460	1.3 yrs
30	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$58,077	1.3 yrs
31	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY · Public	$7,219	$56,776	1.3 yrs
32	Marshall University Huntington, WV · Public	$9,256	$63,005	1.3 yrs
33	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA · Private	$21,526	$94,408	1.4 yrs
34	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$89,413	1.4 yrs
35	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$79,558	1.4 yrs
36	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$84,653	1.4 yrs
37	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	$18,372	$88,678	1.4 yrs
38	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Schuylkill Schuylkill Haven, PA · Public	$15,670	$78,244	1.4 yrs
39	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO · Public	$11,656	$69,140	1.4 yrs
40	Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI · Public	$12,008	$68,305	1.4 yrs
41	University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI · Public	$12,398	$69,338	1.4 yrs
42	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	$16,819	$81,333	1.5 yrs
43	University of New Hampshire at Manchester Manchester, NH · Public	$12,787	$70,112	1.5 yrs
44	University of Advancing Technology Tempe, AZ · For-Profit	$18,587	$86,129	1.5 yrs
45	University of Houston-Victoria Victoria, TX · Public	$10,631	$63,005	1.5 yrs
46	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Shenango Sharon, PA · Public	$17,200	$78,244	1.6 yrs
47	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York York, PA · Public	$16,993	$78,244	1.6 yrs
48	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$68,331	1.6 yrs
49	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$73,070	1.6 yrs
50	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$73,562	1.6 yrs

Top Earners in Computer and Information Sciences, General

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.