Benjamin Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest," though most Americans would now disagree when it comes to higher education. In an October 2025 survey from Pew Research Center, a slim 13% of Americans stated that the nation's universities are doing a good or excellent job at keeping tuition affordable, compared to nearly 80% who believe colleges are doing a fair or poor job on affordability. And while tuition is just one part of the bigger picture when it comes to college, these costs are top of mind for countless prospective students, considering that almost 43 million Americans—roughly 12% of the population—still carry federal student loan debt incurred by their degrees.
Calculating the return on investment for higher education is more crucial than it was before the 2008 recession. An Education Data Initiative analysis shows that when not accounting for inflation, the cost of tuition increased by nearly 37% between 2010 and 2025. Meanwhile, according to the Education Data Initiative's most recent available data, the typical investment for a bachelor's degree—including tuition, room and board, lost income, and student loan interest—comes out to an eye-watering $562,868. On average, it takes 11 years on the job to make up for the cost of a bachelor's degree.
At a time when some companies no longer require bachelor's degrees as a job requirement, and young men are increasingly opting out of higher ed, for those who do want to go down the conventional route, ROI calculations can differ greatly. Stacker analyzed Department of Education data for cost-conscious college hopefuls to identify public and private nonprofit four-year colleges that produced the highest-earning graduates for the 25 most popular undergraduate majors in the U.S.
The analysis shows that the choice of major is one of the biggest variables in calculating ROI, ranging from $54,263 in earnings five years after graduation for social work to $298,018 for computer and information sciences, despite newer struggles to find work during the AI boom.
Another variable is the kind of degree. The smallest jump in ROI between degree levels is a 16% jump from bachelor's to master's, whereas there is a 41% gain in weekly earnings between an associate's and a bachelor's degree.
Debt burden also varies significantly between schools: First-year earnings can vary by $80,000 for graduates of the same degree and major who went to different schools, according to a Georgetown University report.
You may also like: Most liberal colleges in America
Ken Wolter // Shutterstock
1 / 25-- Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $49,695 (35% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $54,263 (10% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $26,000
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
2 / 25-- Location: Austin, Texas
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $94,041 (76% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: Not available
-- Median student debt at college: Not available
Wirestock Creators // Shutterstock
3 / 25-- Location: Durham, North Carolina
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $121,088 (130% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $131,658 (80% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $13,000
Dmitrii Sakharov // Shutterstock
4 / 25-- Location: New York
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $51,435 (104% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $55,731 (33% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $26,853
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
5 / 25-- Location: Stockton, California
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $104,803 (134% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $182,091 (217% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $15,500
You may also like: Fastest-growing jobs in health care
Jay Yuan // Shutterstock
6 / 25-- Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $61,127 (85% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $95,866 (77% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $19,000
Spiroview Inc // Shutterstock
7 / 25-- Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $64,377 (86% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $74,367 (37% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $19,250
Kit Leong // Shutterstock
8 / 25-- Location: Washington D.C.
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $52,122 (71% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $78,299 (57% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $16,500
The Image Party // Shutterstock
9 / 25-- Location: Pasadena, California
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $173,344 (99% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: Not available
-- Median student debt at college: Not available
SINITAR // Shutterstock
10 / 25-- Location: Philadelphia
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $146,204 (104% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $298,016 (219% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $15,000
You may also like: 50 colleges with the best ROI
Jeff Cleveland // Shutterstock
11 / 25-- Location: Vallejo, California
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $92,315 (31% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $114,735 (11% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $19,690
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
12 / 25-- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $103,993 (77% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $161,251 (74% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $6,617
Spiroview Inc // Shutterstock
13 / 25-- Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $72,618 (88% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $101,103 (50% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $17,500
eskystudio // Shutterstock
14 / 25-- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $103,135 (173% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: Not available
-- Median student debt at college: $11,935
Jay Yuan // Shutterstock
15 / 25-- Location: Philadelphia
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $82,553 (73% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $124,208 (75% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $17,412
You may also like: Fastest-growing jobs in education
George Rudy // Shutterstock
16 / 25-- Location: New Britain, Connecticut
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $68,956 (15% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: Not available
-- Median student debt at college: $23,000
Eileen_10 // Shutterstock
17 / 25-- Location: Philadelphia
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $122,698 (292% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $242,357 (330% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $12,865
Tada Images // Shutterstock
18 / 25-- Location: Houston
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $51,110 (24% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $71,586 (52% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $10,000
Moses P // Shutterstock
19 / 25-- Location: Chicago
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $60,917 (56% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $58,580 (7% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $16,750
LnP images // Shutterstock
20 / 25-- Location: Washington D.C.
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $89,564 (59% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $165,279 (115% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $17,500
You may also like: The 25 fastest-growing jobs that pay over $100K
Claudine Van Massenhove // Shutterstock
21 / 25-- Location: San Luis Obispo, California
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $62,183 (67% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $67,009 (15% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $14,928
tokar // Shutterstock
22 / 25-- Location: San Diego
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $54,223 (73% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $68,950 (11% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $25,000
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
23 / 25-- Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $62,218 (95% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: Not available
-- Median student debt at college: $25,494
PeopleImages // Shutterstock
24 / 25-- Location: Rohnert Park, California
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $125,646 (60% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $131,431 (50% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $19,750
Nirat.pix // Shutterstock
25 / 25-- Location: Riverdale, New York
-- Typical earnings one year after graduation: $113,777 (123% higher than average)
-- Typical earnings five years after graduation: $111,699 (61% higher than average)
-- Median student debt at college: $25,328
Data reporting by Wade Zhou.
You may also like: Best value private colleges in America
