Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Health and Physical Education/Fitness

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

50

Schools Ranked

$29,831

Avg. Earnings

4.8 yrs

Best Payback

38,205

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	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$43,798	4.8 yrs
2	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$42,495	5.6 yrs
3	National University San Diego, CA · Private	$23,427	$50,856	5.9 yrs
4	Dickinson State University Dickinson, ND · Public	$13,283	$42,682	6.9 yrs
5	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$39,489	7.4 yrs
6	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$39,489	7.5 yrs
7	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public	$9,505	$39,729	8 yrs
8	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public	$11,133	$40,485	8.1 yrs
9	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private	$29,892	$49,625	8.2 yrs
10	Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC · Public	$13,358	$41,342	8.4 yrs
11	Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, TX · Public	$10,417	$39,909	8.5 yrs
12	Louisiana Christian University Pineville, LA · Private	$14,457	$41,565	8.8 yrs
13	Simpson College Indianola, IA · Private	$16,829	$42,012	9.6 yrs
14	University of Dayton Dayton, OH · Private	$25,633	$43,798	11.7 yrs
15	Texas A&M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	$13,939	$39,009	13.9 yrs
16	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	$16,667	$39,523	14.7 yrs
17	Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA · Private	$15,581	$39,009	15.5 yrs
18	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX · Public	$14,952	$38,289	18.2 yrs
19	Luther College Decorah, IA · Private	$23,262	$39,927	18.9 yrs
20	University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR · Public	$16,798	$38,491	19.2 yrs
21	Augustana University Sioux Falls, SD · Private	$22,216	$39,009	22.2 yrs
22	Ashland University Ashland, OH · Private	$20,412	$38,289	24.8 yrs
23	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	$20,325	$38,161	25.7 yrs
24	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public	$18,826	$37,856	26.4 yrs
25	Endicott College Beverly, MA · Private	$31,192	$39,369	28.6 yrs
26	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$37,593	29.8 yrs
27	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$37,208	34.5 yrs
28	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$36,488	34.7 yrs
29	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$37,125	39.7 yrs
30	Concordia University-Wisconsin Mequon, WI · Private	$22,710	$37,208	41.1 yrs
31	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	$17,689	$36,717	41.2 yrs
32	Longwood University Farmville, VA · Public	$17,384	$36,668	41.7 yrs
33	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$36,533	45.3 yrs
34	Ithaca College Ithaca, NY · Private	$31,694	$37,748	46.1 yrs
35	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$33,921	$37,928	46.3 yrs
36	Concordia University Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Private	$26,546	$37,208	48.1 yrs
37	Dordt University Sioux Center, IA · Private	$23,412	$36,848	50.7 yrs
38	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$36,355	51.7 yrs
39	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$36,368	56.2 yrs
40	Lasell University Newton, MA · Private	$25,689	$36,717	59.8 yrs
41	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public	$14,196	$35,914	62.1 yrs
42	Avila University Kansas City, MO · Private	$18,222	$36,141	63.9 yrs
43	Coe College Cedar Rapids, IA · Private	$17,133	$36,042	65.8 yrs
44	Stetson University DeLand, FL · Private	$23,626	$36,312	72 yrs
45	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA · Private	$36,818	$36,848	79.7 yrs
46	Bluffton University Bluffton, OH · Private	$21,802	$36,077	81 yrs
47	Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private	$26,965	$36,312	82.2 yrs
48	Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ · Private	$30,127	$36,455	82.8 yrs
49	Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH · Private	$41,757	$36,992	83.8 yrs
50	University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, NE · Public	$16,311	$35,701	93.1 yrs

Top Earners in Health and Physical Education/Fitness

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.