Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

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

50

Schools Ranked

$54,916

Avg. Earnings

1 yrs

Best Payback

2,389

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	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$69,338	1 yrs
2	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public	$9,505	$67,420	1.2 yrs
3	Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI · Public	$13,230	$74,122	1.4 yrs
4	Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN · Public	$12,829	$67,660	1.6 yrs
5	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public	$14,547	$67,101	1.8 yrs
6	Missouri Southern State University Joplin, MO · Public	$10,215	$57,318	1.8 yrs
7	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$5,700	$47,260	1.9 yrs
8	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$67,164	1.9 yrs
9	University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN · Public	$14,486	$63,997	2 yrs
10	University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, WI · Public	$13,699	$59,549	2.2 yrs
11	Shawnee State University Portsmouth, OH · Public	$11,104	$55,512	2.2 yrs
12	Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS · Public	$14,800	$60,452	2.3 yrs
13	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$63,005	2.3 yrs
14	Central Connecticut State University New Britain, CT · Public	$16,857	$63,997	2.3 yrs
15	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	$15,287	$60,771	2.4 yrs
16	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$59,824	2.4 yrs
17	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	$20,840	$69,338	2.4 yrs
18	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$59,417	2.4 yrs
19	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$62,489	2.5 yrs
20	Lamar University Beaumont, TX · Public	$13,580	$55,964	2.6 yrs
21	Oregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls, OR · Public	$16,695	$60,839	2.6 yrs
22	Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN · Private	$25,839	$72,650	2.7 yrs
23	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	$16,819	$60,325	2.7 yrs
24	Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN · Public	$14,520	$55,512	2.8 yrs
25	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	$14,499	$54,644	3 yrs
26	Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY · Public	$17,490	$57,318	3.1 yrs
27	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL · Public	$12,675	$50,856	3.2 yrs
28	University of Southern Maine Portland, ME · Public	$12,238	$50,231	3.2 yrs
29	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$51,273	3.2 yrs
30	Ohio Northern University Ada, OH · Private	$22,793	$63,005	3.3 yrs
31	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public	$23,509	$61,728	3.5 yrs
32	Ball State University Muncie, IN · Public	$15,158	$52,357	3.5 yrs
33	East Texas A&M University Commerce, TX · Public	$14,768	$52,107	3.5 yrs
34	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$44,189	3.5 yrs
35	East Carolina University Greenville, NC · Public	$16,654	$53,483	3.6 yrs
36	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$55,693	3.7 yrs
37	Fort Hays State University Hays, KS · Public	$13,208	$48,849	3.8 yrs
38	Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA · Public	$13,590	$48,823	3.9 yrs
39	Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY · Public	$10,914	$45,529	4.1 yrs
40	Fitchburg State University Fitchburg, MA · Public	$16,389	$48,823	4.7 yrs
41	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$51,482	5.1 yrs
42	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	$18,449	$48,935	5.3 yrs
43	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public	$14,621	$45,696	5.5 yrs
44	Texas A&M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	$13,939	$44,835	5.7 yrs
45	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, AR · Public	$13,747	$44,468	5.8 yrs
46	SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, NY · Public	$17,154	$44,942	6.9 yrs
47	Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO · Public	$13,157	$42,682	6.9 yrs
48	Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA · Public	$22,731	$47,064	7.5 yrs
49	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA · Public	$14,322	$42,402	7.7 yrs
50	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	$12,127	$40,017	9.7 yrs

Top Earners in Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

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.