Our rankings by occupation help students and their parents find the best-value colleges by career path. This way you can identify where alumni get a college education and launch successful careers in your chosen field.
To see the best college return on investment by job, look at the job family that you are interested in for which schools show high ROIs for that career. This can help narrow your school search to ensure that you attend a college where alumni go on to work in the field you are interested in.
It is important to note that Payscale’s College ROI calculations do not include workers who go on to earn a graduate degree, so some job families may see lower ROIs than you expect. For example, we can’t include salaries of doctors in healthcare jobs since those workers have MD or DO degrees. Our best-value colleges by job rankings are meant to help you see high level trends for earning a bachelor’s degree only. Looking at factors like graduation rate and the percent of students who go on to get graduate degrees will help influence your decision as well if you are planning to go to graduate school.
Payscale’s College ROI Report by career path includes lists for the following job families:
Art Careers (Includes media, sports and entertainment): Art directors, graphic designers, fine arts professions, actors and actresses, fashion designers, industrial designers, audio and video technicians, film and video editors, copywriters, technical writers, etc.
Marketing Careers (includes sales): Marketing managers, marketing directors, salespeople, account executives, customer support, PR specialists, social media managers, telemarketers, real estate brokers and agents, etc.
Business Careers (includes finance): Business and finance careers, including consultants, budget analysts, buyers and purchasing agents, accountants, auditors, financial analysts, loan counselors and officers, online merchants, entrepreneurs, etc.
Education Careers (includes teaching, training, and library): Elementary school teachers, secondary school teachers, teacher assistants, professors, middle school teachers, librarians, trainers, etc.
Protective Service Careers: Police officers, security guards, correctional officers, lifeguards, loss prevention agents, detectives, etc.
Science Careers: Biochemists, biophysicists, chemists, climate change analysts, economists, city and regional planning aides, foresters, food scientists, geological and petroleum technicians, survey researchers, urban planners, etc.
Engineering Careers: Mechanical engineers, petroleum engineers, electrical engineers, civil engineers, engineering managers, chemical engineers, aerospace engineers, drafters, environmental engineers, etc.
Social Services Careers: Social workers, medical case managers, mental health counselors, social services case managers, school counselors, pastors, academic advisors, substance abuse counselors, etc.
Healthcare Careers: Nurses, nurse aids, lab technicians, acupuncturists, dental hygienists, dieticians and nutritionists, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, midwives, occupational therapists, etc.
Technology Careers: Software developers, computer scientists, IT professionals, computer network specialists, database administrators, database architects, information security analysts, mathematical technicians, statisticians, web developers, video game designers, software QA testers, etc.
Legal Careers: Lawyers, paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, corporate counsels, title clerks, escrow officers, etc.
