The 50 Colleges With the Best Earnings-to-Cost Ratio
Which schools actually deliver the most earnings per dollar you pay? GradFax computed the ratio of median earnings 10 years after enrollment to average annual net price. This metric combines two federal datasets in a way you will not find anywhere else.
Source: IPEDS (net price) + U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (earnings). Data: 2024 release. Published: May 2026.
How This Ratio Works
Earnings-to-Cost Ratio = Median earnings 10 years after enrollment divided by average annual net price paid (including tuition, fees, room, board, and books, after all grant aid). A ratio of 4.0x means students earn $4 for every $1 they paid per year of attendance. Higher is better. This metric rewards schools that combine low real cost with strong graduate outcomes.
| # | School | Net Cost/yr | Med. Earnings | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical CollegeMiami Lakes, FL | $98 | $35,014 | 357.3x |
| 2 | Reid State Technical CollegeEvergreen, AL | $131 | $28,982 | 221.2x |
| 3 | Colegio Universitario de San JuanSan Juan, PR | $200 | $26,510 | 132.6x |
| 4 | Oconee Fall Line Technical CollegeSandersville, GA | $294 | $30,899 | 105.1x |
| 5 | Moorpark CollegeMoorpark, CA | $742 | $49,044 | 66.1x |
| 6 | Fort Scott Community CollegeFort Scott, KS | $665 | $37,213 | 56.0x |
| 7 | Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence, SC | $598 | $32,748 | 54.8x |
| 8 | Central Carolina Community CollegeSanford, NC | $616 | $33,525 | 54.4x |
| 9 | Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community CollegeLAnse, MI | $529 | $22,340 | 42.2x |
| 10 | College of San MateoSan Mateo, CA | $1,504 | $54,172 | 36.0x |
| 11 | George C Wallace State Community College-SelmaSelma, AL | $970 | $31,598 | 32.6x |
| 12 | South Georgia Technical CollegeAmericus, GA | $1,026 | $30,364 | 29.6x |
| 13 | Southern Regional Technical CollegeThomasville, GA | $1,085 | $31,293 | 28.8x |
| 14 | West Valley CollegeSaratoga, CA | $1,842 | $51,688 | 28.1x |
| 15 | Western Technology CenterBurns Flat, OK | $1,095 | $29,728 | 27.1x |
| 16 | West Shore Community CollegeScottville, MI | $1,335 | $36,115 | 27.1x |
| 17 | Moraine Valley Community CollegePalos Hills, IL | $1,771 | $43,892 | 24.8x |
| 18 | Reedley CollegeReedley, CA | $1,584 | $38,493 | 24.3x |
| 19 | Ogden-Weber Technical CollegeOgden, UT | $1,614 | $35,032 | 21.7x |
| 20 | Northeast Alabama Community CollegeRainsville, AL | $1,612 | $34,913 | 21.7x |
| 21 | Lamar State College-OrangeOrange, TX | $1,691 | $36,587 | 21.6x |
| 22 | CET-WatsonvilleWatsonville, CA | $1,532 | $32,986 | 21.5x |
| 23 | CUNY Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn, NY | $2,943 | $60,752 | 20.6x |
| 24 | Mineral County Vocational Technical CenterKeyser, WV | $2,385 | $46,022 | 19.3x |
| 25 | Ventura CollegeVentura, CA | $2,257 | $43,430 | 19.2x |
| 26 | Fred W Eberle Technical CenterBuckhannon, WV | $2,268 | $43,364 | 19.1x |
| 27 | Ben Franklin Career CenterDunbar, WV | $2,161 | $37,962 | 17.6x |
| 28 | Gulf Coast State CollegePanama City, FL | $2,339 | $38,359 | 16.4x |
| 29 | Pensacola State CollegePensacola, FL | $2,254 | $36,739 | 16.3x |
| 30 | Tennessee College of Applied Technology-McKenzieMcKenzie, TN | $2,256 | $36,720 | 16.3x |
| 31 | Texas A & M International UniversityLaredo, TX | $3,061 | $48,386 | 15.8x |
| 32 | Florida State College at JacksonvilleJacksonville, FL | $2,760 | $42,244 | 15.3x |
| 33 | Golden West CollegeHuntington Beach, CA | $2,861 | $43,145 | 15.1x |
| 34 | United Technical CenterClarksburg, WV | $3,462 | $49,130 | 14.2x |
| 35 | Pasadena City CollegePasadena, CA | $3,123 | $43,937 | 14.1x |
| 36 | Bridgerland Technical CollegeLogan, UT | $2,785 | $38,347 | 13.8x |
| 37 | Wes Watkins Technology CenterWetumka, OK | $2,340 | $32,209 | 13.8x |
| 38 | Rockingham Community CollegeWentworth, NC | $2,380 | $32,480 | 13.6x |
| 39 | Monongalia County Technical Education CenterMorgantown, WV | $3,110 | $40,499 | 13.0x |
| 40 | Kalamazoo Valley Community CollegeKalamazoo, MI | $2,991 | $38,618 | 12.9x |
| 41 | Pima Community CollegeTucson, AZ | $3,123 | $39,810 | 12.7x |
| 42 | Yeshiva Toras ChaimLakewood, NJ | $5,014 | $62,526 | 12.5x |
| 43 | Academy for Careers and TechnologyMullins, SC | $3,766 | $46,553 | 12.4x |
| 44 | Las Positas CollegeLivermore, CA | $4,175 | $51,088 | 12.2x |
| 45 | Haskell Indian Nations UniversityLawrence, KS | $3,031 | $37,043 | 12.2x |
| 46 | De Anza CollegeCupertino, CA | $4,667 | $56,596 | 12.1x |
| 47 | United States Merchant Marine AcademyKings Point, NY | $7,506 | $90,610 | 12.1x |
| 48 | City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley CollegeChicago, IL | $3,166 | $37,962 | 12.0x |
| 49 | Bates Technical CollegeTacoma, WA | $4,176 | $50,051 | 12.0x |
| 50 | Lake Land CollegeMattoon, IL | $3,271 | $38,877 | 11.9x |
Key Findings
- 01Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College leads with a ratio of 357.3x -- graduates earn $35,014 annually against a net price of $98 per year.
- 02The median ratio in the top 50 is 19.1x, meaning the typical top-50 school produces annual earnings that are 19.1 times what students paid per year.
- 03Public schools account for 48 of the top 50 positions (96%), demonstrating that subsidized tuition remains a powerful ROI lever even after controlling for grant aid.
- 04This ranking penalizes high-sticker-price schools that offer large grants, because net price is what students actually pay after all aid. Schools with generous aid packages can rank higher than lower-sticker schools that offer little aid.
Methodology
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which matches federal student aid records to IRS tax records. The figure is median annual earnings of students 10 years after first receiving federal financial aid, restricted to those working rather than enrolled in additional schooling.
Net price data comes from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). It represents the institution's average annual net price: tuition, fees, room, board, and books minus all grant and scholarship aid received.
The ratio is computed as: earnings_10yr / avg_net_price_overall. Schools with fewer than 0 in either field are excluded. All data is from the 2024 IPEDS and College Scorecard release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this ratio different from a simple ROI calculation?
Most ROI tools compare earnings to tuition sticker price or total cost of attendance. This ratio uses net price -- what students actually paid after grants -- which is a more accurate reflection of real financial burden. A school with $60,000 sticker that gives every student $50,000 in grants has a very different cost profile than it appears.
Why does this list include schools I have never heard of?
High earnings-to-cost schools are not always famous. Specialized vocational and technical schools often have very low net prices and produce graduates in high-demand, well-paying trades. The ratio rewards any school that combines genuine career outcomes with low real cost to students.
Where does the earnings data come from?
The U.S. Department of Education matches student aid records to IRS tax records to produce median earnings by school. This is not self-reported survey data -- it is actual income tax data. The 10-year window means most students have been out of school for several years and are in the workforce.
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