Which college will give you the most valuable degree?

It’s not easy to quantify how much a college degree is worth in dollars. While we know that college graduates make $830,000 more by retirement on average than their less-educated peers, that number can vary widely by individual, college, major and more.

And of course, there are many intangible benefits to going to college.

But with costs topping $60,000 at some colleges and continuing to rise, more students and families are realizing they need to consider a college’s future value when determining where to invest their tuition dollars–and whether a college is worth going into debt for.

College rankings by degree value

A new college-ranking system makes that easier to determine by ranking colleges based on how much better off graduates are financially once they earn a degree.

The ETC College Ranking Index considers students’ SAT or ACT scores and socioeconomic background when they enter college, the total costs related to attending the college, and the outcomes of the students when they enter the labor market–all factors that contribute to a degree’s overall value.

If you were expecting Ivy League colleges like Yale and Harvard to top the list, you’ll be surprised by the results.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked first, followed by California State University-Los Angeles, and the University of California-Merced. Six of the top 10 colleges in the ETC ranking are in California, a state with a strong public university system.

Name-brand colleges fall short on value

You may have never even heard of some of the colleges in the top 25, such as University of Mount Olive (#19) and Tougaloo College (#23).

And not a single Ivy made the top 50. Harvard ranked #724, and Yale was toward the very bottom of the list, at #1054.

We’ve expressed that prestige isn’t everything when it comes to a college’s value. Lists like these show that there are plenty of affordable colleges that can provide a great return on your investment–even if you’ve never heard of them before.

Here’s the top 25:

Check out the full list for more of the surprising results.

And if you need help finding quality colleges that can set you up for future success without putting you tens–or hundreds–of thousands of dollars into debt, give us a call at 1-888-234-3907 or contact us.