Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Geography and Cartography

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

50

Schools Ranked

$34,813

Avg. Earnings

4.2 yrs

Best Payback

3,424

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	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH · Private	$12,172	$46,478	4.2 yrs
2	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$46,087	4.8 yrs
3	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	$15,106	$46,087	5.4 yrs
4	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$41,565	5.7 yrs
5	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	$16,938	$46,869	5.7 yrs
6	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	$13,778	$44,189	6 yrs
7	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ · Public	$14,142	$44,384	6 yrs
8	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$41,565	6.2 yrs
9	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$41,565	6.4 yrs
10	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	$12,224	$42,682	6.4 yrs
11	Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL · Public	$12,950	$41,789	7.6 yrs
12	Binghamton University Vestal, NY · Public	$21,423	$45,696	8 yrs
13	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$39,009	8 yrs
14	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$44,971	8.5 yrs
15	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$42,682	8.8 yrs
16	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$41,565	9.2 yrs
17	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	$17,667	$42,682	9.2 yrs
18	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA · Public	$19,365	$42,682	10.1 yrs
19	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$40,537	10.2 yrs
20	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$41,565	10.7 yrs
21	Radford University Radford, VA · Public	$16,716	$40,647	11.8 yrs
22	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$41,937	11.9 yrs
23	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public	$16,256	$40,467	11.9 yrs
24	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$42,682	12.2 yrs
25	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$41,565	12.4 yrs
26	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$39,832	12.9 yrs
27	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	$21,649	$41,565	13.2 yrs
28	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$38,829	13.9 yrs
29	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Shippensburg, PA · Public	$22,033	$41,193	14.2 yrs
30	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$39,523	14.3 yrs
31	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$39,832	14.4 yrs
32	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN · Public	$22,476	$40,485	16.4 yrs
33	East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN · Public	$15,113	$38,289	18.4 yrs
34	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$38,289	18.5 yrs
35	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private	$12,676	$37,671	19 yrs
36	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$39,009	19 yrs
37	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	$13,769	$37,856	19.3 yrs
38	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ · Public	$27,278	$40,647	19.3 yrs
39	Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Indiana, PA · Public	$22,726	$39,585	19.8 yrs
40	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$38,829	20.1 yrs
41	Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA · Public	$16,954	$38,289	20.6 yrs
42	Pennsylvania Western University California, PA · Public	$17,695	$38,289	21.5 yrs
43	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD · Public	$18,252	$38,289	22.2 yrs
44	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$39,832	22.5 yrs
45	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$12,644	$37,208	22.9 yrs
46	Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN · Private	$20,188	$38,289	24.6 yrs
47	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	$15,406	$37,478	24.9 yrs
48	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI · Public	$14,226	$37,208	25.8 yrs
49	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$36,164	28.8 yrs
50	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA · Public	$19,050	$37,568	29.7 yrs

Top Earners in Geography and Cartography

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.