Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Information Science/Studies

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

50

Schools Ranked

$55,829

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

31,048

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	$83,546	<1 yr
2	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$76,460	1 yrs
3	University of Houston-Victoria Victoria, TX · Public	$10,631	$66,915	1.3 yrs
4	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private	$17,098	$76,460	1.6 yrs
5	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$67,660	1.6 yrs
6	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$74,367	1.8 yrs
7	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO · Public	$11,656	$61,516	1.8 yrs
8	University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI · Public	$13,218	$63,005	1.9 yrs
9	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	$13,842	$62,409	2 yrs
10	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$64,990	2 yrs
11	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY · Public	$7,187	$49,571	2 yrs
12	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$72,290	2.1 yrs
13	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver Monaca, PA · Public	$14,961	$63,243	2.1 yrs
14	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	$13,553	$60,298	2.1 yrs
15	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$64,245	2.1 yrs
16	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$66,485	2.2 yrs
17	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre Dallas, PA · Public	$15,562	$63,243	2.2 yrs
18	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBois DuBois, PA · Public	$15,229	$63,243	2.2 yrs
19	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Schuylkill Schuylkill Haven, PA · Public	$15,670	$63,243	2.2 yrs
20	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	$11,619	$53,984	2.4 yrs
21	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Scranton Dunmore, PA · Public	$16,841	$63,243	2.4 yrs
22	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont Alto Mont Alto, PA · Public	$16,766	$63,243	2.4 yrs
23	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York York, PA · Public	$16,993	$63,243	2.4 yrs
24	Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC · Public	$15,437	$60,771	2.4 yrs
25	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public	$14,621	$59,350	2.4 yrs
26	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Hazleton Hazleton, PA · Public	$17,365	$63,243	2.5 yrs
27	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI · Public	$15,277	$59,124	2.5 yrs
28	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	$9,017	$49,312	2.5 yrs
29	Emporia State University Emporia, KS · Public	$15,070	$59,485	2.5 yrs
30	Albright College Reading, PA · Private	$17,867	$63,005	2.6 yrs
31	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ · Public	$18,451	$63,005	2.6 yrs
32	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public	$17,113	$61,814	2.6 yrs
33	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley Center Valley, PA · Public	$19,297	$63,243	2.7 yrs
34	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$63,243	2.7 yrs
35	Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY · Public	$10,914	$51,035	2.7 yrs
36	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	$14,105	$54,835	2.8 yrs
37	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	$15,458	$57,110	2.8 yrs
38	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY · Public	$8,084	$46,673	2.8 yrs
39	Friends University Wichita, KS · Private	$19,717	$63,005	2.8 yrs
40	Murray State University Murray, KY · Public	$11,244	$50,856	2.8 yrs
41	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$67,101	2.9 yrs
42	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington New Kensington, PA · Public	$20,569	$63,243	2.9 yrs
43	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Greater Allegheny McKeesport, PA · Public	$20,673	$63,243	2.9 yrs
44	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington Abington, PA · Public	$20,421	$63,243	2.9 yrs
45	Florida Institute of Technology-Online Melbourne, FL · Private	$23,837	$67,660	2.9 yrs
46	University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Johnstown, PA · Public	$17,271	$58,479	2.9 yrs
47	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY · Public	$19,344	$60,523	3 yrs
48	University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE · Public	$13,574	$53,358	3 yrs
49	CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY · Public	$8,412	$46,357	3 yrs
50	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD · Public	$20,879	$62,111	3.1 yrs

Top Earners in Information Science/Studies

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.