2024 Best Schools for the Money (Income $0-$30k) in the United States for Master's Degrees
There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which school to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking is part of that endeavor. This list is proof that you shouldn't avoid normally high-priced schools, since the actual price may be very affordable if you qualify for financial aid.
In This Year's Value Report:
Your Choice of School Matters
Our analysis looked at 1,111 schools in the United States to determine which ones have the best value Master's Degree programs. Our ranking for the best value schools is based on objective factors. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. In the next few paragraphs, we'll talk a little about what we use in our analysis and why.
Our Methodology
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking, we first consider its average net price of students from families making $0-$30k a year. The net price is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives.
In addition, the overall quality of a school is important to ensure a good education, not just how much it costs.
To make it into this list a school must offer a quality education like the schools in our Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considers factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Find out more about our best value ranking methodology.
You can scroll down to see the top schools for this ranking, but you may also want to view some of the other ranking methods listed below.
To get a better picture of the best value schools for your income range or for whether or not you'll receive aid, click on one of the tiles above. If you'd rather work on your degree in a specific area of the country, you might be interested in our
rankings by place. In addition, we've put together a number of other
college rankings that may help you in your search.
Know what field you want to major in? Make sure you check out our best value schools by major. In addition, you can select one of the links below to see the best value colleges for other degree levels.
Best Value Master's Degree Schools (Income $0-$30k) in the United States
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops this year’s ranking as the best value (income $0-$30k) school for master’s degrees in the United States for overall quality. MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has a fairly large student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Massachusetts.
Learn More About Value at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The quality degree programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k). UPenn is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
University of Pennsylvania has the honor of being ranked #1 in Pennsylvania for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Full University of Pennsylvania Value Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. Located in Stanford, California, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
Stanford University has the honor of being ranked #1 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on Stanford University
Out of the 1,111 master’s degree schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #4 spot on the list. Columbia is a large private not-for-profit school situated in New York, New York.
Columbia University in the City of New York has the honor of being ranked #1 in New York for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on Columbia University in the City of New York
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Johns Hopkins University. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Not only is Johns Hopkins University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Maryland for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at Johns Hopkins University
Harvard University landed the #6 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Not only is Harvard University a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Massachusetts for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at Harvard University
University of Chicago ranked #7 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois.
Not only is University of Chicago a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Illinois for overall quality.
Read full value report on University of Chicago
Georgetown University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Georgetown University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of District of Columbia.
Read full value report on Georgetown University
Yale University landed the #9 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Located in New Haven, Connecticut, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Yale University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Connecticut.
Full Yale University Value Report
Duke University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking, coming in at #10. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Durham, North Carolina.
Duke University has the honor of being ranked #1 in North Carolina for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Full Duke University Value Report
Washington University in St Louis ranked #11 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. WUSTL is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Not only is Washington University in St Louis a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Missouri for overall quality.
Read full value report on Washington University in St Louis
Cornell University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Located in Ithaca, New York, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Cornell University is ranked #2 for quality in the state of New York.
Learn More About Value at Cornell University
University of Florida did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking, coming in at #13. UF is located in Gainesville, Florida and has a large student population. It is a public school.
Not only is University of Florida a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Florida for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at University of Florida
Princeton University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Princeton, New Jersey.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Princeton University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of New Jersey.
Learn More About Value at Princeton University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. This large public school is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor has the honor of being ranked #1 in Michigan for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
With a ranking of #16, Rice University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. Houston, Texas is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Rice University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Texas.
Full Rice University Value Report
Vanderbilt University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Vanderbilt University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Tennessee.
Full Vanderbilt University Value Report
With a ranking of #18, Michigan State University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. Michigan State is located in East Lansing, Michigan and has a large student population. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Michigan State University is ranked #2 for quality in the state of Michigan.
Full Michigan State University Value Report
Northwestern University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois.
Northwestern University has the honor of being ranked #2 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Full Northwestern University Value Report
Brown University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Brown is a private not-for-profit institution located in Providence, Rhode Island.
Not only is Brown University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Rhode Island for overall quality.
Read full value report on Brown University
With a ranking of #21, Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list. This large public school is located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Purdue University - Main Campus has the honor of being ranked #2 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at Purdue University - Main Campus
University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking, coming in at #22. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school is a large public institution.
University of Wisconsin - Madison has the honor of being ranked #1 in Wisconsin for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on University of Wisconsin - Madison
Hunter College landed the #23 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Hunter is a public institution located in New York, New York.
Not only is Hunter College a great value, but it is also ranked #8 in New York for overall quality.
Full Hunter College Value Report
With a ranking of #24, did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) list.
Learn More About Value at
University of Maryland - Baltimore County landed the #25 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $0-$30k) ranking. Baltimore, Maryland is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Maryland - Baltimore County is ranked #3 for quality in the state of Maryland.
Learn More About Value at University of Maryland - Baltimore County
