With the costs of college continuing to climb, figuring out whether a school is a good investment is paramount for many when choosing the right place to earn a degree.
PayScale.com has released its annual list ranking how colleges fare in terms of return on investment. The list is a good resource for parents and students to consult when making a decision.
In the end, college is about more than dollars and cents, of course. But it's hard to ignore the data in PayScale's list. It might be worth considering whether being saddled with student loan debt is worth it for a school whose graduates earn less than students from other schools.
The methodology PayScale used to compare 962 schools in the U.S. includes only data on graduates who earned bachelor's degrees. It calculates 20-year ROI by taking the difference between the 20-year median pay for a 2015 graduate and the 24-year median pay for a 2015 high school graduate, then subtracting the 4-year cost of attending the college. Most of the schools on this list have a negative ROI.
Some public schools made this list separately for in-state and out-of-state grads; in those cases we eliminated the out-of-state numbers from our ranking. But the out-of-state grads, with higher tuition, fared worse.
Continue reading to learn about 30 colleges for the worst ROI…
30. Evangel University
Location: Springfield, Missouri
20-Year Net ROI: $4,430
4-Year Cost: $127,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $30,300
Photo: Trask Hall is one of the academic buildings on Evangel's campus. (evangel.edu)
29. Buena Vista University
Location: Storm Lake, Iowa
20-Year Net ROI: $1,300
4-Year Cost: $160,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $34,300
28. Berklee College of Music
Location: Boston
20-Year Net ROI: ($3,700)
4-Year Cost: $231,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $62,000
Photo: The Isley Brothers, Ronald, left, and Ernie, right, receive honorary doctor of music degrees from Berklee College of Music during commencement ceremonies in Boston on May 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
27. Ripon College
Location: Ripon, Wisconsin
20-Year Net ROI: ($5,100)
4-Year Cost: $168,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,400
26. Nazareth College of Rochester
Location: Rochester, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($6,900)
4-Year Cost: $173,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,000
Photo: Nazareth College 2016 commencement (Facebook.com/NazarethCollege)
25. The College of Saint Rose
Location: Albany, New York
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,100)
4-Year Cost: $166,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $30,700
24. Chatham University
Location: Pittsburgh
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,200)
4-Year Cost: $182,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $23,500
Photo: Chatham University features a campus labyrinth. (Wikimedia Commons)
23. Manfield University
Location: Mansfield, Pennsylvania
20-Year Net ROI: ($7,300)
4-Year Cost: $132,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $33,700
22. Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Location: Baltimore
20-Year Net ROI: ($8,100)
4-Year Cost: $216,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $34,200
Photo: The Gateway building designed by RTKL Associates, Inc. is one of several noteworthy pieces of architecture at MICA. (Wikipedia Commons)
21. Elizabeth City State University (in state)
Location: Elizabeth City, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: ($9,000)
4-Year Cost: $49,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $19,500
20. University of Hawaii at Hilo (out of state)
Location: Hilo
20-Year Net ROI: $10,000
4-Year Cost: $116,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $27,900
Photo: Some people would rather call this 10-branch university system, of which Hilo is one, "Hawaii State University." (By Vreed/Wikipedia Commons)
19. Clarke University
Location: Dubuque, Iowa
20-Year Net ROI: ($11,000)
4-Year Cost: $160,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 4
Average Loan Amount: $35,300
18. (tie). Morehead State University (out of state)
Location: Morehead, Kentucky
20-Year Net ROI: ($14,000)
4-Year Cost: $119,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $24,200
Photo: This is the view of Fields Hall, Camden-Carroll Library and Little Bell Tower on the Morehead State University campus. (Wikipedia Commons)
17. (tie). University of North Carolina at Asheville (out of state)
Location: Asheville, North Carolina
20-Year Net ROI: ($14,000)
4-Year Cost: $129,000
Typical Years to Graduate: 5
Average Loan Amount: $23,400
