Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Public Health

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

50

Schools Ranked

$34,249

Avg. Earnings

2.2 yrs

Best Payback

14,524

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	Montana Technological University Butte, MT · Public	$16,499	$64,344	2.2 yrs
2	Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI · Public	$12,008	$55,512	2.3 yrs
3	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private	$8,457	$42,682	4.4 yrs
4	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$47,260	4.9 yrs
5	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$50,439	5 yrs
6	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY · Public	$6,908	$39,585	6 yrs
7	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$47,260	6.2 yrs
8	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI · Public	$14,737	$44,189	6.4 yrs
9	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private	$12,505	$42,682	6.5 yrs
10	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$42,510	6.6 yrs
11	University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK · Public	$18,802	$44,216	8.2 yrs
12	Missouri Southern State University Joplin, MO · Public	$10,215	$39,729	8.6 yrs
13	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$40,253	8.8 yrs
14	Boise State University Boise, ID · Public	$16,204	$42,188	9 yrs
15	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ · Public	$14,142	$40,792	9.8 yrs
16	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$40,140	10.4 yrs
17	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	$15,720	$41,007	10.5 yrs
18	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$42,682	11 yrs
19	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private	$19,827	$41,937	11.4 yrs
20	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$37,208	13 yrs
21	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$39,909	14.1 yrs
22	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	$8,147	$37,179	15 yrs
23	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$39,009	15.3 yrs
24	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$37,179	15.4 yrs
25	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$38,829	15.4 yrs
26	University of Toledo Toledo, OH · Public	$17,555	$39,369	16.1 yrs
27	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	$13,553	$38,289	16.5 yrs
28	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$38,289	17.2 yrs
29	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	$9,439	$37,179	17.3 yrs
30	Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Public	$13,306	$37,956	18 yrs
31	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	$16,938	$38,649	18.6 yrs
32	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	$14,105	$37,980	18.9 yrs
33	Indiana University-South Bend South Bend, IN · Public	$10,840	$37,208	19.6 yrs
34	National University San Diego, CA · Private	$23,427	$39,729	19.8 yrs
35	New York University New York, NY · Private	$31,355	$41,193	20.3 yrs
36	Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA · Private	$18,814	$38,337	22.6 yrs
37	American University Washington, DC · Private	$27,374	$39,369	25.1 yrs
38	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public	$17,113	$37,568	26.7 yrs
39	University of Scranton Scranton, PA · Private	$29,844	$39,369	27.3 yrs
40	Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK · Public	$11,718	$36,668	28.1 yrs
41	Simmons University Boston, MA · Private	$26,374	$38,289	32.1 yrs
42	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$36,608	33 yrs
43	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$36,401	49.2 yrs
44	Regis College Weston, MA · Private	$31,701	$37,568	49.4 yrs
45	University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI · Private	$15,476	$36,141	54.3 yrs
46	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	$16,667	$36,218	54.7 yrs
47	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	$21,568	$36,294	66.7 yrs
48	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	$20,523	$36,222	67.2 yrs
49	Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL · Private	$37,835	$37,208	68.5 yrs
50	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	$21,716	$36,222	71.1 yrs

Top Earners in Public Health

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.