Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Human Resources Management and Services

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

50

Schools Ranked

$44,609

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

18,566

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	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private	$5,849	$76,995	<1 yr
2	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$69,338	1.1 yrs
3	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$67,101	1.3 yrs
4	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private	$12,676	$57,860	2.2 yrs
5	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$50,563	2.2 yrs
6	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA · Public	$6,333	$45,061	2.5 yrs
7	University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI · Public	$12,398	$54,035	2.6 yrs
8	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$63,005	2.9 yrs
9	Concordia University-Chicago River Forest, IL · Private	$15,903	$56,415	3 yrs
10	Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI · Public	$12,008	$48,617	3.5 yrs
11	Trinity International University-Illinois Deerfield, IL · Private	$19,588	$57,556	3.5 yrs
12	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver Monaca, PA · Public	$14,961	$51,607	3.6 yrs
13	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$50,356	3.6 yrs
14	Benedictine University Lisle, IL · Private	$26,188	$63,005	3.7 yrs
15	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre Dallas, PA · Public	$15,562	$51,607	3.7 yrs
16	Waldorf University Forest City, IA · For-Profit	$22,077	$58,390	3.8 yrs
17	University of St Francis Joliet, IL · Private	$16,055	$52,107	3.8 yrs
18	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$48,237	3.9 yrs
19	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI · Public	$14,226	$49,563	3.9 yrs
20	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Fayette- Eberly Lemont Furnace, PA · Public	$16,449	$51,607	4 yrs
21	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Hazleton Hazleton, PA · Public	$17,365	$51,607	4.2 yrs
22	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$41,937	4.2 yrs
23	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$47,260	4.3 yrs
24	Concordia University-Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN · Private	$14,980	$49,019	4.3 yrs
25	Wichita State University Wichita, KS · Public	$14,581	$48,432	4.3 yrs
26	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$51,106	4.3 yrs
27	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	$11,619	$45,305	4.5 yrs
28	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI · Public	$14,157	$47,595	4.5 yrs
29	Immaculata University Immaculata, PA · Private	$27,369	$58,673	4.6 yrs
30	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$51,607	4.6 yrs
31	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$48,849	4.6 yrs
32	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley Center Valley, PA · Public	$19,297	$51,607	4.6 yrs
33	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · Private	$26,825	$57,995	4.7 yrs
34	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public	$9,505	$43,128	4.7 yrs
35	National Louis University Chicago, IL · Private	$16,487	$48,667	4.8 yrs
36	Lewis University Romeoville, IL · Private	$17,336	$49,019	4.9 yrs
37	Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA · Private	$18,293	$49,962	4.9 yrs
38	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington Abington, PA · Public	$20,421	$51,607	4.9 yrs
39	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN · Private	$18,683	$49,840	5 yrs
40	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington New Kensington, PA · Public	$20,569	$51,607	5 yrs
41	Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public	$13,612	$45,767	5.1 yrs
42	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public	$10,508	$43,087	5.2 yrs
43	Concordia University-Wisconsin Mequon, WI · Private	$22,710	$52,107	5.3 yrs
44	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg Middletown, PA · Public	$22,395	$51,607	5.4 yrs
45	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	$15,720	$46,556	5.4 yrs
46	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona Altoona, PA · Public	$22,436	$51,607	5.4 yrs
47	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Reading, PA · Public	$22,967	$51,607	5.5 yrs
48	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA · Public	$18,026	$48,041	5.5 yrs
49	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$45,249	5.5 yrs
50	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public	$18,860	$48,563	5.6 yrs

Top Earners in Human Resources Management and Services

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.