Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General

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

50

Schools Ranked

$29,202

Avg. Earnings

11.8 yrs

Best Payback

3,868

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	Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Indiana, PA · Public	$22,726	$42,682	11.8 yrs
2	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	$18,271	$40,017	14.6 yrs
3	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$38,289	17.8 yrs
4	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$37,671	22.6 yrs
5	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$36,488	43.2 yrs
6	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	$12,602	$35,318	158.5 yrs
7	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	$21,649	$30,554	N/A
8	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$30,554	N/A
9	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	$10,780	$29,685	N/A
10	Western Illinois University Macomb, IL · Public	$15,794	$31,914	N/A
11	Montana State University Bozeman, MT · Public	$19,942	$27,822	N/A
12	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ · Public	$18,026	$32,620	N/A
13	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$33,192	N/A
14	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$34,381	N/A
15	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	$11,189	$31,529	N/A
16	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$33,993	N/A
17	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL · Public	$12,675	$27,407	N/A
18	Morgan State University Baltimore, MD · Public	$18,305	$26,353	N/A
19	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY · Public	$7,582	$27,295	N/A
20	Southern University and A & M College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$18,825	$29,141	N/A
21	Ball State University Muncie, IN · Public	$15,158	$34,217	N/A
22	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public	$16,708	$28,598	N/A
23	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$28,236	N/A
24	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	$16,644	$29,685	N/A
25	North Carolina Central University Durham, NC · Public	$17,208	$28,682	N/A
26	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	$13,192	$28,960	N/A
27	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC · Public	$12,647	$23,456	N/A
28	University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD · Public	$17,949	$29,882	N/A
29	University of North Alabama Florence, AL · Public	$15,060	$27,435	N/A
30	University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR · Public	$16,798	$26,715	N/A
31	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public	$14,621	$25,889	N/A
32	Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL · Public	$19,115	$23,456	N/A
33	University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL · Public	$19,443	$25,194	N/A
34	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$25,658	N/A
35	Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO · Public	$13,157	$28,500	N/A
36	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, AR · Public	$13,747	$26,187	N/A
37	Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK · Public	$11,718	$29,685	N/A
38	Nicholls State University Thibodaux, LA · Public	$13,486	$28,236	N/A
39	South Carolina State University Orangeburg, SC · Public	$23,594	$22,192	N/A
40	The University of Tennessee-Martin Martin, TN · Public	$13,804	$27,874	N/A
41	Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN · Public	$17,588	$29,685	N/A
42	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$29,685	N/A
43	Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA · Public	$13,590	$30,119	N/A
44	Berea College Berea, KY · Private	$6,551	$19,455	N/A
45	Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT · Public	$13,460	$21,508	N/A
46	Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS · Public	$14,800	$28,598	N/A
47	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$31,719	N/A
48	Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV · Public	$11,116	$27,439	N/A
49	Texas Southern University Houston, TX · Public	$23,173	$26,896	N/A
50	Fairmont State University Fairmont, WV · Public	$12,104	$25,194	N/A

Top Earners in Family and Consumer Sciences/Human 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.