Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Religion/Religious Studies

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

46

Schools Ranked

$25,824

Avg. Earnings

5.6 yrs

Best Payback

1,268

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	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$41,025	5.6 yrs
2	Jewish Theological Seminary of America New York, NY · Private	$25,347	$51,482	6.2 yrs
3	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$37,208	29.2 yrs
4	Randolph-Macon College Ashland, VA · Private	$22,621	$37,568	35.2 yrs
5	Liberty University Lynchburg, VA · Private	$27,305	$35,265	412.2 yrs
6	Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland Suffern, NY · Private	$10,350	$12,961	N/A
7	Fordham University Bronx, NY · Private	$31,221	$25,194	N/A
8	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$28,598	N/A
9	Cairn University-Langhorne Langhorne, PA · Private	$21,941	$28,753	N/A
10	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	$17,606	$24,615	N/A
11	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	$16,938	$27,823	N/A
12	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	$10,780	$17,846	N/A
13	Baylor University Waco, TX · Private	$31,907	$21,234	N/A
14	Whitworth University Spokane, WA · Private	$21,629	$21,508	N/A
15	California Baptist University Riverside, CA · Private	$25,553	$26,585	N/A
16	Ohio Christian University Circleville, OH · Private	$21,438	$32,284	N/A
17	Evangel University Springfield, MO · Private	$22,243	$27,536	N/A
18	Mississippi College Clinton, MS · Private	$17,767	$23,456	N/A
19	Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad West Coast Talmudical Seminary Los Angeles, CA · Private	$10,601	$16,015	N/A
20	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	$11,189	$33,993	N/A
21	Furman University Greenville, SC · Private	$22,076	$33,993	N/A
22	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA · Public	$18,026	$32,569	N/A
23	Charleston Southern University Charleston, SC · Private	$18,205	$31,848	N/A
24	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$31,127	N/A
25	University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public	$9,669	$26,353	N/A
26	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	$15,287	$26,353	N/A
27	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	$11,506	$25,967	N/A
28	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$25,194	N/A
29	University of Mount Olive Mount Olive, NC · Private	$16,682	$25,194	N/A
30	Houston Christian University Houston, TX · Private	$20,447	$24,421	N/A
31	University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA · Private	$30,077	$23,351	N/A
32	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public	$18,553	$22,938	N/A
33	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$22,824	N/A
34	Stetson University DeLand, FL · Private	$23,626	$22,771	N/A
35	Ouachita Baptist University Arkadelphia, AR · Private	$21,497	$21,508	N/A
36	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$20,824	N/A
37	Talmudical Seminary of Bobov Brooklyn, NY · Private	$4,134	$10,673	N/A
38	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	$13,214	$20,140	N/A
39	Yeshivath Viznitz Monsey, NY · Private	$10,104	$16,323	N/A
40	Bet Medrash Gadol Ateret Torah Brooklyn, NY · Private	$5,023	$19,794	N/A
41	College of Charleston Charleston, SC · Public	$20,142	$19,455	N/A
42	Be'er Yaakov Talmudic Seminary Spring Valley, NY · Private	$4,496	$13,380	N/A
43	University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Belton, TX · Private	$25,685	$18,309	N/A
44	Luther College Decorah, IA · Private	$23,262	$17,481	N/A
45	Southern Wesleyan University Central, SC · Private	$16,599	$16,169	N/A
46	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$15,552	N/A

Top Earners in Religion/Religious 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.