Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods

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

50

Schools Ranked

$35,306

Avg. Earnings

1.5 yrs

Best Payback

59,215

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	Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX · Public	$4,262	$46,087	1.5 yrs
2	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$43,128	3.8 yrs
3	Louisiana State University-Alexandria Alexandria, LA · Public	$7,474	$42,235	4.1 yrs
4	Nevada State University Henderson, NV · Public	$13,229	$46,673	4.5 yrs
5	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY · Public	$9,270	$42,682	4.8 yrs
6	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$41,021	4.8 yrs
7	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$44,457	5 yrs
8	Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ · Private	$19,911	$50,375	5.2 yrs
9	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	$7,521	$40,455	5.5 yrs
10	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$46,062	5.5 yrs
11	University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK · Public	$10,534	$42,682	5.5 yrs
12	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public	$11,133	$43,018	5.6 yrs
13	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$47,478	5.6 yrs
14	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$41,007	5.6 yrs
15	University of Minnesota-Morris Morris, MN · Public	$6,691	$39,729	5.7 yrs
16	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public	$9,426	$41,351	5.9 yrs
17	University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK · Public	$11,587	$42,682	6 yrs
18	Delaware State University Dover, DE · Public	$15,815	$45,584	6 yrs
19	St. Thomas Aquinas College Sparkill, NY · Private	$23,391	$50,270	6.1 yrs
20	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$43,319	6.2 yrs
21	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	$14,233	$44,001	6.3 yrs
22	Manhattan University Riverdale, NY · Private	$29,420	$53,358	6.4 yrs
23	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	$16,819	$45,328	6.5 yrs
24	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ · Public	$25,434	$50,689	6.5 yrs
25	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public	$12,323	$42,611	6.5 yrs
26	Caldwell University Caldwell, NJ · Private	$20,901	$47,260	6.8 yrs
27	Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio, TX · Private	$19,938	$46,673	6.8 yrs
28	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC · Public	$12,647	$42,458	6.8 yrs
29	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$41,119	6.9 yrs
30	Bloomfield College of Montclair State University Bloomfield, NJ · Public	$19,870	$46,087	7.2 yrs
31	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	$14,105	$42,682	7.3 yrs
32	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	$17,667	$44,547	7.4 yrs
33	Stevenson University Owings Mills, MD · Private	$16,778	$44,040	7.4 yrs
34	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ · Private	$25,864	$48,864	7.5 yrs
35	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD · Public	$18,252	$44,567	7.6 yrs
36	Felician University Lodi, NJ · Private	$17,485	$44,170	7.6 yrs
37	American University Washington, DC · Private	$27,374	$49,136	7.7 yrs
38	Indiana University-Northwest Gary, IN · Public	$7,885	$39,119	7.7 yrs
39	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public	$19,749	$45,231	7.7 yrs
40	Clayton State University Morrow, GA · Public	$13,406	$41,937	7.7 yrs
41	University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public	$9,669	$39,956	7.8 yrs
42	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$43,720	7.9 yrs
43	Kean University Union, NJ · Public	$20,486	$45,305	8 yrs
44	Louisiana State University-Shreveport Shreveport, LA · Public	$11,179	$40,589	8 yrs
45	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$41,342	8.1 yrs
46	Northwest University Kirkland, WA · Private	$18,754	$44,170	8.2 yrs
47	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	$17,260	$43,269	8.3 yrs
48	Chaminade University of Honolulu Honolulu, HI · Private	$21,380	$45,305	8.3 yrs
49	Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA · Private	$21,062	$45,082	8.4 yrs
50	Bowie State University Bowie, MD · Public	$18,560	$43,696	8.5 yrs

Top Earners in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods

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.