The best public colleges 
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Net cost: The median annual cost of all students that receive any aid. This does not refer to the “sticker price”, the price listed by the college.
Earnings: The median earnings of all bachelor-level students 10 years after enrollment. This includes both students that do and do not graduate, across all majors.
Payback: The amount of time in years it takes to pay off the median net cost by the median earnings. For this calculation, the median earning of high school graduates (in the school’s home state) are deducted from the median earnings.
Degree premium: The difference between the school’s median earnings and the median earnings for all schools in the same state. This is called “Vs. state average” in school profiles below.
Ranking: The payback rate is divided by the degree premium (set as a percentage), the lower the number the higher the rank. (i.e. payback=1, degree premium 20% higher than state school median: 1/120% = .883.
CUNY City College
New York, New York
Admission rate: 51%
Grad rate: 54%
Net cost: $2,385
Payback: Under 6 months
Earnings: $55,741
Vs. state average: + $51
Economic score: 0.37
Go to School
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Admission rate: 32%
Grad rate: 88%
Net cost: $6,302
Payback: Under a year
Earnings: $64,463
Vs. state average: + $19,742
Economic score: 0.45
Go to School
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Atlanta, Georgia
Admission rate: 22%
Grad rate: 90%
Net cost: $14,739
Payback: 1.0 Years
Earnings: $88,196
Vs. state average: + $46,303
Economic score: 0.49
Go to School
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Admission rate: 27%
Grad rate: 93%
Net cost: $15,336
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $75,842
Vs. state average: + $31,796
Economic score: 0.70
Go to School
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Admission rate: 18%
Grad rate: 93%
Net cost: $15,329
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $80,364
Vs. state average: + $29,685
Economic score: 0.74
Go to School
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, Missouri
Admission rate: 82%
Grad rate: 68%
Net cost: $14,262
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $80,289
Vs. state average: + $32,969
Economic score: 0.74
Go to School
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Admission rate: 15%
Grad rate: 92%
Net cost: $14,279
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $73,744
Vs. state average: + $23,065
Economic score: 0.83
Go to School
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, California
Admission rate: 37%
Grad rate: 89%
Net cost: $14,232
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $74,771
Vs. state average: + $24,092
Economic score: 0.85
Go to School
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Admission rate: 26%
Grad rate: 90%
Net cost: $12,352
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $61,915
Vs. state average: + $19,844
Economic score: 0.86
Go to School
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, Washington
Admission rate: 56%
Grad rate: 84%
Net cost: $13,297
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $68,925
Vs. state average: + $23,966
Economic score: 0.88
Go to School
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia
Admission rate: 23%
Grad rate: 94%
Net cost: $20,397
Payback: 1.6 Years
Earnings: $77,048
Vs. state average: + $34,064
Economic score: 0.89
Go to School
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois
Admission rate: 64%
Grad rate: 85%
Net cost: $15,880
Payback: 1.4 Years
Earnings: $71,539
Vs. state average: + $26,702
Economic score: 0.90
Go to School
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
Admission rate: 58%
Grad rate: 66%
Net cost: $7,296
Payback: 1.1 Years
Earnings: $54,501
Vs. state average: + $9,780
Economic score: 0.91
Go to School
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, Colorado
Admission rate: 55%
Grad rate: 80%
Net cost: $26,750
Payback: 1.8 Years
Earnings: $90,060
Vs. state average: + $44,139
Economic score: 0.92
Go to School
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, Michigan
Admission rate: 71%
Grad rate: 71%
Net cost: $16,463
Payback: 1.5 Years
Earnings: $73,541
Vs. state average: + $29,495
Economic score: 0.92
Go to School
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, New Jersey
Admission rate: 67%
Grad rate: 81%
Net cost: $19,706
Payback: 1.6 Years
Earnings: $80,043
Vs. state average: + $34,420
Economic score: 0.93
Go to School
University of California-Irvine
Irvine, California
Admission rate: 30%
Grad rate: 86%
Net cost: $14,783
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $71,961
Vs. state average: + $21,282
Economic score: 0.93
Go to School
California State University-Fresno
Fresno, California
Admission rate: 91%
Grad rate: 68%
Net cost: $5,464
Payback: 1.0 Years
Earnings: $52,201
Vs. state average: + $1,522
Economic score: 1.01
Go to School
University of California-Davis
Davis, California
Admission rate: 47%
Grad rate: 89%
Net cost: $14,669
Payback: 1.4 Years
Earnings: $69,766
Vs. state average: + $19,087
Economic score: 1.03
Go to School
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas
Admission rate: 83%
Grad rate: 60%
Net cost: $4,514
Payback: 1.1 Years
Earnings: $45,895
Vs. state average: + $948
Economic score: 1.06
Go to School