Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions

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

Schools Ranked

$32,767

Avg. Earnings

4.7 yrs

Best Payback

2,578

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	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$46,087	4.7 yrs
2	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN · Public	$16,515	$48,097	5 yrs
3	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private	$12,020	$43,798	5.5 yrs
4	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$39,741	11 yrs
5	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$39,153	14.4 yrs
6	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	$15,720	$37,208	28.5 yrs
7	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	$13,778	$36,608	34.3 yrs
8	Worcester State University Worcester, MA · Public	$16,479	$36,668	39.5 yrs
9	Alvernia University Reading, PA · Private	$24,953	$36,717	58.1 yrs
10	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public	$20,867	$35,416	200.6 yrs
11	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	$18,586	$35,274	271.3 yrs
12	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA · Public	$19,050	$35,274	278.1 yrs
13	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	$12,224	$35,060	814.9 yrs
14	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$31,382	N/A
15	Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT · Public	$16,376	$30,499	N/A
16	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public	$23,509	$29,685	N/A
17	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$33,921	$29,250	N/A
18	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$32,162	N/A
19	University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD · Public	$19,548	$31,854	N/A
20	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public	$19,749	$33,664	N/A
21	Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ · For-Profit	$20,787	$29,685	N/A
22	Rhode Island College Providence, RI · Public	$12,509	$27,295	N/A
23	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN · Public	$15,588	$34,420	N/A
24	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$27,280	N/A
25	Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM · Public	$10,322	$33,382	N/A
26	University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR · Public	$16,798	$30,891	N/A
27	Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA · Public	$16,954	$31,236	N/A
28	Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion Marion, IN · Private	$19,205	$33,352	N/A
29	University of Maine at Farmington Farmington, ME · Public	$13,655	$28,960	N/A
30	Purdue University Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN · Public	$13,015	$28,236	N/A
31	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public	$14,621	$26,585	N/A
32	Ohio Christian University Circleville, OH · Private	$21,438	$32,162	N/A
33	Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL · Public	$16,540	$34,206	N/A
34	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public	$9,505	$34,420	N/A
35	Chicago State University Chicago, IL · Public	$13,678	$32,925	N/A
36	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	$16,819	$30,771	N/A
37	Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI · Public	$16,017	$27,862	N/A
38	J Johnson University Florida Kissimmee, FL · Private	$17,906	$26,585	N/A
39	Johnson University Knoxville, TN · Private	$18,212	$26,585	N/A

Top Earners in Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions

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.