Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Urban Studies/Affairs

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

Schools Ranked

$34,682

Avg. Earnings

3.5 yrs

Best Payback

727

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 Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private	$12,020	$48,823	3.5 yrs
2	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$48,432	4 yrs
3	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	$8,147	$41,937	4.7 yrs
4	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$41,937	4.8 yrs
5	New York University New York, NY · Private	$31,355	$52,107	7.3 yrs
6	Fordham University Bronx, NY · Private	$31,221	$52,107	7.3 yrs
7	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$43,128	7.4 yrs
8	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	$10,780	$40,647	7.6 yrs
9	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY · Public	$7,582	$38,289	9.2 yrs
10	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$40,737	11.2 yrs
11	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	$14,310	$39,729	12.1 yrs
12	Worcester State University Worcester, MA · Public	$16,479	$38,289	20 yrs
13	University of New Orleans New Orleans, LA · Public	$13,180	$36,183	44.6 yrs
14	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	$12,911	$35,701	73.7 yrs
15	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	$13,275	$33,993	N/A
16	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY · Private	$17,403	$24,035	N/A
17	Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public	$13,612	$32,119	N/A
18	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public	$18,553	$33,382	N/A
19	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$21,508	N/A
20	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$21,508	N/A
21	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$21,508	N/A
22	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$21,508	N/A
23	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$21,508	N/A
24	Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH · Public	$18,468	$34,704	N/A
25	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA · Public	$24,139	$29,685	N/A
26	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	$14,105	$21,508	N/A
27	Trinity University San Antonio, TX · Private	$17,154	$31,670	N/A
28	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA · Private	$37,292	$24,421	N/A

Top Earners in Urban Studies/Affairs

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.