Here is where all 50 state university systems rank on ROI—and why

When it comes to accelerating ROI for students on price and outcomes, an abundance of career-oriented majors and thriving technical colleges are essentials for campus leaders.

A new analysis ranks the return on investment of all 50 state public university systems by comparing tuition and other financial factors to the increase in lifetime income that graduates earn from their degrees.

“While some state college systems succeed in moving large numbers of students into the middle class, others fail to deliver on the promise of economic mobility,” says study author Preston Cooper, a research fellow at Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, an organization that works to improve outcomes for underrepresented students.


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“While maximizing ROI is not the only goal of higher education, students consistently report that their primary reasons for attending college are getting a better job and increasing their earnings potential,” Cooper adds.

Top performers include South Dakota, Kansas, and Pennsylvania while Montana, Louisiana and Connecticut, and New Mexico. For example, ROI at South Dakota’s public colleges is nearly twice the national median of $118,182 while the price and outcomes in the state at the bottom of the list was found to have a negative return on investment.

The report also identifies the most value individual academic programs in each state and the public systems with the riskiest returns. “To increase aggregate ROI, states should consider implementing performance-based funding and removing restrictions on high-value majors,” Cooper concludes.

Price & outcomes: ROI rankings

Here’s where each state system of public colleges and universities ranks for median ROI:

  1. South Dakota: $217,000
  2. Minnesota: $215,000
  3. Iowa: $214,000
  4. Kansas: $181,000
  5. Pennsylvania: $167,000
  6. Virginia: $166,000
  7. Arizona: $164,000
  8. Texas: $159,000
  9. Michigan: $154,000
  10. Nebraska: $154,000
  11. Washington: $144,000
  12. North Dakota: $142,000
  13. Ohio: $138,000
  14. Alabama: $138,000
  15. Delaware: $136,000
  16. Oklahoma: $134,000
  17. Florida: $133,000
  18. Wisconsin: $131,000
  19. Missouri: $124,000
  20. Indiana: $120,000
  21. Georgia: $120,000
  22. Illinois: $112,000
  23. Maine: $115,000
  24. California: $109,000
  25. North Carolina: $107,000
  26. Massachusetts: $106,000
  27. New Hampshire: $106,000
  28. South Carolina: $103,000
  29. Vermont: $93,000
  30. Oregon: $87,000
  31. Maryland: $86,000
  32. New York: $86,000
  33. Colorado: $73,000
  34. Idaho: $70,000
  35. Wyoming: $67,000
  36. Arkansas: $64,000
  37. Tennessee: $64,000
  38. Alaska: $63,000
  39. West Virginia: $61,000
  40. Rhode Island: $60,000
  41. New Jersey: $59,000
  42. Nevada: $57,000
  43. Mississippi: $54,000
  44. Utah: $54,000
  45. Kentucky: $43,000
  46. Connecticut: $39,000
  47. Montana: $25,000
  48. New Mexico: $21,000
  49. Louisiana: $18,000
  50. Hawaii: -$5,5720
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick is the managing editor of University Business and a life-long journalist. Prior to writing for University Business, he worked in daily news all over the country, from the NYC suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's also in a band.

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