Best Value Colleges for Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Business Services
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
9
Schools Ranked
$40,464
Avg. Earnings
5 yrs
Best Payback
391
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 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private | $53,775 | 5 yrs |
| 2 | Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public | $40,896 | 5.7 yrs |
| 3 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public | $43,426 | 8.7 yrs |
| 4 | Bradley University Peoria, IL · Private | $41,193 | 15 yrs |
| 5 | University of Houston Houston, TX · Public | $38,018 | 17.7 yrs |
| 6 | Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public | $38,108 | 26.4 yrs |
| 7 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public | $38,108 | 27.9 yrs |
| 8 | University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public | $35,594 | 101.3 yrs |
| 9 | Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA · Private | $35,060 | N/A |
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.