The schools with the highest return on investment in every state

The schools with the highest return on investment in every stateThe schools with the highest return on investment in every stateThe average student loan debt is now $39,400, and yet Americans still like to believe that going to college is an investment in the future. It brings lifelong friendships, challenging cursework and hopefully a good job at the end. But has anyone ever thought to conduct a rigorous ROI analysis, considering the average tuition costs, student debt and earnings potential for graduates?Click here for a larger version of the map.We found the numbers for our map from Payscale.com, which calculated a few different metrics for every major college or university in each state across the country. They took the average total cost of tuition (the red part of our visual), the average student debt (the puple part), the typical length of time to graduation (usually 4 years), and the graduation rate. They then determined the 20-year ROI for going to school by comparing two di fferent populations people who skip college and start a career right after high school, and people who go to college and wait to start a career. In other words, think about a high school graduate with 24 years of experience compared to a college graduate with only 20. What is the net difference, if any, in pay? Thats the blue part of our visual.Here is a list of the best value schools in every state (with 20-year net return on investment)Alabama University of Alabama in Huntsville, $518,000Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks, $527,000Arizona Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott, $529,000Arkansas University of Arkansas, $374,000California Harvey Mudd College, $978,000Colorado Colorado School of Mines, $909,000Connecticut United States Coast Guard Academy, $714,000Delaware University of Delaware, $488,000Florida Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach, $549,000Georgia Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, $856,000Hawaii Brigham Young University-Hawaii, $26 3,000Idaho Brigham Young University-Idaho, $468,000Illinois University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, $585,000Indiana Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, $751,000Iowa Iowa State University, $435,000Kansas Ottawa University-Ottawa, $438,000Kentucky Thomas More College, $362,000Louisiana Louisiana State University and Agricultural Mechanical College, $422,000Maine Maine Maritime Academy, $718,000Maryland United States Naval Academy, $1,004,000Massachusetts Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $1,015,000Michigan Kettering University, $766,000Minnesota University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, $449,000Mississippi Mississippi State University, $293,000Missouri Missouri University of Science and Technology, $753,000Montana Montana Tech of the University of Montana, $634,000Nebraska Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing Allied Health, $363,000Nevada University of Nevada-Reno, $363,000New Hampshire Dartmouth College, $707,000New Jersey Stevens Institute of Technology, $832,000New Mexico N ew Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, $692,000New York United States Merchant Marine Academy, $1,094,000North Carolina Duke University, $641,000North Dakota North Dakota State University-Main Campus, $413,000Ohio Case wildwestfilm Reserve University, $568,000Oklahoma University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus, $424,000Oregon Oregon Institute of Technology, $572,000Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania, $739,000Rhode Island Brown University, $616,000South Carolina Clemson University, $461,000South Dakota South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, $635,000Tennessee Vanderbilt University, $496,000Texas Rice University, $650,000Utah Brigham Young University-Provo, $595,000Vermont Middlebury College, $358,000Virginia Virginia Military Institute, $680,000Washington University of Washington-Bothell Campus, $609,000Washington, D.C. Georgetown University, $619,000West Virginia West Virginia University Institute of Technology, $493,000Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Engineering, $611,000W yoming University of Wyoming, $360,000- - - There are several high-level trends in our visualization. First off, no matter where you live, it clearly pays to go to college. Every single state has a large blue bar in it. The worst ROI for getting a degree is in Hawaii, but even their graduates will have earned $263,000 more than their less-educated counterparts after 20 years of working. The average ROI for all 50 schools (plus Washington DC) is an eye-popping $595,000, and the average loan amount is just under $29,000. That means that, on average, going to a high-value school gives you roughly 20x return on your money. Try getting that in the stock market.Our map also lays out a nice visual of value schools across the U.S. The best value can be found in the Northeast, which is represented by the large blue bars in several states. There are several schools with $700k+ returns. Things look relatively modest in the South, with no state topping $700k. California meanwhile anchors the West Coast with the best value in the region, where Harvey Mudd College generates just shy of $1M in ROI for graduates.Taking a closer look at the visualization reveals another interesting trend. Some of the schools are very well known, like MIT in Massachusetts and many of the state schools across the Midwest. But if youre honest, how many of the top ten have you previously heard of? Clearly there are several schools with the word technology in the name, indicating that getting a science, engineering or IT degree carries some serious ROI. Many of unterstellung schools might not be well known in pop culture, but we bet hiring managers compete for the attention of these graduates.But what if you are nervous about taking out student loans to finance your college career? After all, a lot of people start college but dont finish. That can lead to the worst of both worlds student debt but no degree (or higher earning potential) to show for it. The graduation rates are relatively high for all these schools, topping 80 and even 90+%. But if you still want to hedge your bets, consider joining the armed services through the Naval Academy ($0 in debt at graduation, but an ROI of $1,004,000). And if joining the military doesnt appeal to you, consider instead a low-cost, low-debt school on our list, like BUY-Idaho. Graduates typically only have $17,700 in average debt, which comes out to only about $200/month in repayments over 10 years. If that still seems like a lot, remember, youre going to make $468,000 more over the next two decadesData Table 1.1This article first appeared on How Much.