Here is where all 50 state university systems rank on ROI—and why

When it comes to accelerating ROI for students on price and outcomes, an abundance of career-oriented majors and thriving technical colleges are essentials for campus leaders.

A new analysis ranks the return on investment of all 50 state public university systems by comparing tuition and other financial factors to the increase in lifetime income that graduates earn from their degrees.

“While some state college systems succeed in moving large numbers of students into the middle class, others fail to deliver on the promise of economic mobility,” says study author Preston Cooper, a research fellow at Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, an organization that works to improve outcomes for underrepresented students.

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“While maximizing ROI is not the only goal of higher education, students consistently report that their primary reasons for attending college are getting a better job and increasing their earnings potential,” Cooper adds.

Top performers include South Dakota, Kansas, and Pennsylvania while Montana, Louisiana and Connecticut, and New Mexico. For example, ROI at South Dakota’s public colleges is nearly twice the national median of $118,182 while the price and outcomes in the state at the bottom of the list was found to have a negative return on investment.

The report also identifies the most value individual academic programs in each state and the public systems with the riskiest returns. “To increase aggregate ROI, states should consider implementing performance-based funding and removing restrictions on high-value majors,” Cooper concludes.

Price & outcomes: ROI rankings

Here’s where each state system of public colleges and universities ranks for median ROI:

1. South Dakota: $217,000
2. Minnesota: $215,000
3. Iowa: $214,000
4. Kansas: $181,000
5. Pennsylvania: $167,000
6. Virginia: $166,000
7. Arizona: $164,000
8. Texas: $159,000
9. Michigan: $154,000
10. Nebraska: $154,000
11. Washington: $144,000
12. North Dakota: $142,000
13. Ohio: $138,000
14. Alabama: $138,000
15. Delaware: $136,000
16. Oklahoma: $134,000
17. Florida: $133,000
18. Wisconsin: $131,000
19. Missouri: $124,000
20. Indiana: $120,000
21. Georgia: $120,000
22. Illinois: $112,000
23. Maine: $115,000
24. California: $109,000
25. North Carolina: $107,000
26. Massachusetts: $106,000
27. New Hampshire: $106,000
28. South Carolina: $103,000
29. Vermont: $93,000
30. Oregon: $87,000
31. Maryland: $86,000
32. New York: $86,000
33. Colorado: $73,000
34. Idaho: $70,000
35. Wyoming: $67,000
36. Arkansas: $64,000
37. Tennessee: $64,000
38. Alaska: $63,000
39. West Virginia: $61,000
40. Rhode Island: $60,000
41. New Jersey: $59,000
42. Nevada: $57,000
43. Mississippi: $54,000
44. Utah: $54,000
45. Kentucky: $43,000
46. Connecticut: $39,000
47. Montana: $25,000
48. New Mexico: $21,000
49. Louisiana: $18,000
50. Hawaii: -$5,5720