Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other

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

50

Schools Ranked

$35,975

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

25,966

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	McDaniel College Westminster, MD · Private	$729	$39,009	<1 yr
2	University of the Pacific Stockton, CA · Private	$25,543	$141,586	1 yrs
3	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$53,984	3.4 yrs
4	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY · Private	$29,788	$69,338	3.5 yrs
5	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	$5,452	$41,193	3.5 yrs
6	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$46,478	3.7 yrs
7	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public	$10,508	$46,300	3.7 yrs
8	Emory University Atlanta, GA · Private	$16,646	$53,108	3.7 yrs
9	Mercer University Macon, GA · Private	$21,388	$57,460	3.8 yrs
10	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA · Private	$26,956	$63,005	3.9 yrs
11	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$48,710	3.9 yrs
12	University of Hawaii-West Oahu Kapolei, HI · Public	$13,554	$48,667	4 yrs
13	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public	$10,316	$45,146	4.1 yrs
14	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$44,356	4.5 yrs
15	University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN · Public	$9,084	$42,682	4.7 yrs
16	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX · Public	$14,952	$47,684	4.7 yrs
17	University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI · Public	$13,218	$46,087	4.8 yrs
18	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$46,794	4.8 yrs
19	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$49,683	5 yrs
20	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$41,007	5.1 yrs
21	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	$15,567	$47,260	5.1 yrs
22	University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX · Public	$10,578	$43,128	5.2 yrs
23	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	$15,458	$46,577	5.3 yrs
24	Barnard College New York, NY · Private	$19,810	$49,646	5.4 yrs
25	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	$15,415	$46,478	5.4 yrs
26	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$33,921	$59,485	5.5 yrs
27	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$12,644	$43,957	5.6 yrs
28	Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK · Public	$11,718	$43,426	5.6 yrs
29	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$44,328	5.6 yrs
30	University of Houston-Downtown Houston, TX · Public	$15,426	$45,142	6.1 yrs
31	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA · Private	$33,999	$57,318	6.1 yrs
32	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$45,458	6.2 yrs
33	Saint Edward's University Austin, TX · Private	$24,710	$50,856	6.2 yrs
34	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	$14,583	$44,276	6.3 yrs
35	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$44,520	6.3 yrs
36	Texas Southern University Houston, TX · Public	$23,173	$49,576	6.4 yrs
37	University of Houston-Victoria Victoria, TX · Public	$10,631	$41,667	6.4 yrs
38	California Baptist University Riverside, CA · Private	$25,553	$50,856	6.4 yrs
39	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	$12,602	$42,682	6.6 yrs
40	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA · Private	$16,063	$44,542	6.7 yrs
41	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN · Public	$16,515	$44,102	7.3 yrs
42	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$44,482	7.4 yrs
43	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$42,123	7.5 yrs
44	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL · Public	$12,675	$41,565	7.7 yrs
45	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$42,868	7.8 yrs
46	Dickinson State University Dickinson, ND · Public	$13,283	$41,789	7.8 yrs
47	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public	$20,867	$45,500	7.9 yrs
48	Texas A&M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	$13,939	$41,811	8.2 yrs
49	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	$13,192	$41,214	8.5 yrs
50	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX · Public	$19,287	$43,967	8.6 yrs

Top Earners in Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other

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.