2024 Best Schools for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in the United States
2,177Colleges
$1,892Avg Net Price (With Aid)*
97%Discount Rate*
When pursuing a degree in today's world, there are many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Best Schools For The Money For Those Making $30-$48k ranking - to help you make that decision. A school that typically has a high sticker price may actually be very affordable, depending on how much need-based financial aid you receive.
After analyzing 2,177 schools in the United States, we came up with our list of those that offered the best value programs. Instead of depending on subjective information to rank the best value schools, we focus on objective factors in our analysis. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.
Our Methodology
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking, we first consider its average net price of students from families making $30-$48k a year. The net price is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives.
But, a school that excels in providing value for your money must also be a great school overall as well.
To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Want to see the list of best value schools for families with specific income levels or whether or not aid is being applied? Click on one of the tiles above. You may also want to narrow this list by location to find the best value schools nearest you. Also, you may want to check out our other college rankings.
If you know what major you want to study, check out our list of the best value schools by major. If you're interested in other degree levels, you can view one of the lists below.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops this year’s ranking as the best value (income $30-$48k) school in the United States for overall quality. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A rank of #2 on our Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list means University of Pennsylvania is a great place for students working on their degree. UPenn is a private not-for-profit institution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Located in Stanford, California, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
Out of the 2,177 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 University in the City of New York is a large private not-for-profit school located in New York, New York.
A rank of #5 on our Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list means Harvard University is a great place for students working on their degree. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Johns Hopkins University did quite well in the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking, coming in at #6. Johns Hopkins is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Baltimore, Maryland.
University of Chicago landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
University of Chicago has the honor of being ranked #1 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $3,316.
California Institute of Technology landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
California Institute of Technology has the honor of being ranked #5 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value. Students from families who make $30-$48k a year pay an annual average net price of $1,371.
Cornell University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Cornell is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York.
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. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $1,953.
Duke University landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Durham, North Carolina.
With a ranking of #11, Georgetown University did quite well on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Georgetown University is a large private not-for-profit school located in Washington, District of Columbia.
Yale University landed the #12 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Yale is located in New Haven, Connecticut 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, Yale University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Connecticut. Students from families who make $30-$48k a year pay an annual average net price of $5,177.
With a ranking of #13, Northwestern University did quite well on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Northwestern University is ranked #2 for quality in the state of Illinois. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $6,236.
With a ranking of #14, Williams College did quite well on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Williams is a private not-for-profit institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Princeton University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Princeton is located in Princeton, New Jersey and has a medium-sized student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Washington University in St Louis ranked #16 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large private not-for-profit school 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. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $4,928.
Purdue University - Main Campus ranked #17 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. West Lafayette, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
Not only is Purdue University - Main Campus a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Indiana for overall quality. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $2,955.
Rice University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Houston, Texas.
University of Florida landed the #19 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. UF is a large public school situated in Gainesville, Florida.
University of Florida has the honor of being ranked #1 in Florida for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $1,385.
Brown University landed the #20 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Brown is located in Providence, Rhode Island and has a fairly large student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Washington and Lee University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lexington, Virginia.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Washington and Lee University is ranked #3 for quality in the state of Virginia. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $743.
With a ranking of #22, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. UW - Madison is located in Madison, Wisconsin and has a large student population. It is a public school.
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #23 spot on the 2024 Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a large public school 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. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $6,904.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus ranked #25 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a large public school located in Seattle, Washington.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Washington - Seattle Campus is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Washington. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $30-$48k per year is $5,082.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
by our College Data Analytics Team
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