Best Value Colleges for Housing and Human Environments
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
7
Schools Ranked
$41,139
Avg. Earnings
1.8 yrs
Best Payback
176
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 | Major Earnings | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private | $63,855 | 1.8 yrs |
| 2 | CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY · Public | $52,107 | 2 yrs |
| 3 | University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public | $44,928 | 6.1 yrs |
| 4 | University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public | $43,000 | 6.9 yrs |
| 5 | University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public | $41,565 | 11.5 yrs |
| 6 | Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public | $37,856 | 22.3 yrs |
| 7 | Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public | $35,060 | N/A |
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.