Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations

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

Schools Ranked

$47,813

Avg. Earnings

1.8 yrs

Best Payback

2,202

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	Ball State University Muncie, IN · Public	$15,158	$69,338	1.8 yrs
2	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$51,750	2 yrs
3	St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN · Private	$15,942	$65,053	2.1 yrs
4	Baylor University Waco, TX · Private	$31,907	$84,653	2.6 yrs
5	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$50,439	2.7 yrs
6	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$51,482	3.1 yrs
7	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA · Public	$19,365	$55,964	3.7 yrs
8	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$49,358	3.7 yrs
9	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY · Public	$7,187	$41,837	4.2 yrs
10	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	$18,606	$52,198	4.3 yrs
11	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public	$19,749	$52,607	4.5 yrs
12	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	$12,964	$46,087	4.7 yrs
13	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public	$18,860	$47,846	5.9 yrs
14	Bradley University Peoria, IL · Private	$23,286	$50,856	5.9 yrs
15	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$45,435	7.3 yrs
16	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI · Public	$14,157	$41,342	8.9 yrs
17	Fordham University Bronx, NY · Private	$31,221	$48,041	9.6 yrs
18	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY · Private	$31,935	$46,790	10.8 yrs
19	St. Thomas Aquinas College Sparkill, NY · Private	$23,391	$42,435	12.6 yrs
20	Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL · Private	$37,338	$46,790	12.7 yrs
21	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public	$15,247	$39,523	13.5 yrs
22	State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY · Public	$17,264	$39,729	14.6 yrs
23	SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, NY · Public	$13,452	$38,289	16.4 yrs
24	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT · Private	$27,606	$37,568	43 yrs
25	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	$20,325	$36,717	47.4 yrs
26	Barry University Miami, FL · Private	$22,551	$36,134	79.5 yrs
27	Virginia Union University Richmond, VA · Private	$21,816	$28,212	N/A
28	Stevens-The Institute of Business & Arts Saint Louis, MO · For-Profit	$17,362	$25,658	N/A
29	Long Island University Brookville, NY · Private	$24,775	$33,993	N/A

Top Earners in General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations

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.