Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Journalism

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

50

Schools Ranked

$32,304

Avg. Earnings

2.9 yrs

Best Payback

15,318

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	$43,100	2.9 yrs
2	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA · Private	$6,505	$42,682	3.4 yrs
3	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$44,276	4.1 yrs
4	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$44,276	4.4 yrs
5	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$44,276	4.5 yrs
6	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$44,276	6.5 yrs
7	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$47,260	6.9 yrs
8	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA · Private	$16,063	$43,426	7.6 yrs
9	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$41,565	7.9 yrs
10	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$44,276	8.8 yrs
11	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$39,585	9 yrs
12	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$40,298	9.7 yrs
13	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$40,393	9.8 yrs
14	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$41,565	11.2 yrs
15	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$42,682	11.9 yrs
16	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$39,134	12 yrs
17	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$39,559	15.2 yrs
18	Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA · Private	$27,354	$41,937	15.8 yrs
19	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public	$13,715	$38,197	17.2 yrs
20	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$38,649	19 yrs
21	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	$18,204	$38,721	19.6 yrs
22	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	$23,468	$39,585	20.5 yrs
23	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$37,980	21.7 yrs
24	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$38,289	22.4 yrs
25	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY · Public	$19,344	$38,289	23.5 yrs
26	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$38,829	24.6 yrs
27	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$37,415	25.8 yrs
28	Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA · Public	$19,656	$38,018	26.1 yrs
29	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	$18,586	$37,808	26.5 yrs
30	Elon University Elon, NC · Private	$29,909	$39,369	27.4 yrs
31	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$37,208	29.1 yrs
32	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$37,624	31.3 yrs
33	Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA · Private	$25,717	$38,289	31.3 yrs
34	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	$13,553	$36,668	32.5 yrs
35	Baylor University Waco, TX · Private	$31,907	$38,906	32.7 yrs
36	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA · Private	$32,267	$38,871	33.3 yrs
37	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public	$16,256	$36,884	34.5 yrs
38	Chapman University Orange, CA · Private	$38,525	$39,153	37.1 yrs
39	Emerson College Boston, MA · Private	$37,774	$38,953	38.2 yrs
40	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private	$33,018	$38,289	40.2 yrs
41	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY · Private	$33,635	$38,289	40.9 yrs
42	Lincoln University Lincoln University, PA · Public	$20,526	$36,852	44.3 yrs
43	Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT · Private	$37,175	$37,856	52.1 yrs
44	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$35,986	59.4 yrs
45	University of Denver Denver, CO · Private	$27,767	$36,852	60 yrs
46	Drake University Des Moines, IA · Private	$26,088	$36,560	66.9 yrs
47	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$35,877	68.6 yrs
48	State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY · Public	$19,151	$36,085	70.6 yrs
49	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$36,308	72 yrs
50	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private	$29,892	$36,560	76.6 yrs

Top Earners in Journalism

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.