Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

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

50

Schools Ranked

$35,994

Avg. Earnings

2.1 yrs

Best Payback

4,565

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	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$50,439	2.1 yrs
2	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$53,358	2.3 yrs
3	Lafayette College Easton, PA · Private	$13,393	$57,318	2.4 yrs
4	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	$12,602	$55,512	2.5 yrs
5	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	$11,189	$50,856	2.8 yrs
6	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA · Private	$19,026	$61,020	2.9 yrs
7	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver Monaca, PA · Public	$14,961	$51,665	3.6 yrs
8	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBois DuBois, PA · Public	$15,229	$51,665	3.7 yrs
9	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$47,260	4.5 yrs
10	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$51,665	4.6 yrs
11	Kean University Union, NJ · Public	$20,486	$52,107	4.8 yrs
12	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine Media, PA · Public	$21,599	$51,665	5.2 yrs
13	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$47,260	5.3 yrs
14	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$43,798	5.4 yrs
15	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$45,618	5.7 yrs
16	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	$14,498	$44,971	5.8 yrs
17	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$45,918	5.8 yrs
18	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$42,188	5.9 yrs
19	Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA · Public	$16,181	$45,696	6.1 yrs
20	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	$15,106	$44,971	6.1 yrs
21	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$51,665	6.5 yrs
22	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$44,384	6.5 yrs
23	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$43,426	7.3 yrs
24	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	$15,458	$43,128	7.6 yrs
25	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	$15,958	$42,682	8.3 yrs
26	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public	$15,950	$42,728	8.3 yrs
27	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$42,682	8.4 yrs
28	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	$16,738	$42,774	8.6 yrs
29	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$40,827	9.2 yrs
30	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$41,193	9.6 yrs
31	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$41,565	10.5 yrs
32	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	$13,778	$40,188	10.6 yrs
33	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$42,682	11 yrs
34	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	$18,204	$41,565	11.1 yrs
35	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$38,289	11.4 yrs
36	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public	$19,749	$41,937	11.4 yrs
37	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public	$18,860	$41,565	11.5 yrs
38	Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA · Public	$22,731	$42,682	11.8 yrs
39	Union College Schenectady, NY · Private	$24,375	$42,682	12.7 yrs
40	Augustana College Rock Island, IL · Private	$19,064	$41,025	12.7 yrs
41	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$40,461	12.8 yrs
42	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	$14,193	$39,009	14.2 yrs
43	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$40,647	14.6 yrs
44	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	$21,649	$40,647	15.3 yrs
45	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	$15,567	$39,009	15.5 yrs
46	Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, CT · Public	$17,305	$39,369	15.8 yrs
47	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	$9,017	$37,208	16.3 yrs
48	Hanover College Hanover, IN · Private	$17,891	$39,369	16.4 yrs
49	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	$18,271	$39,369	16.7 yrs
50	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$39,369	17.5 yrs

Top Earners in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

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.