College ROI Report
Updated 2024
Best-value Colleges for Healthcare Careers
Healthcare jobs tend to be both high-paying and, according to our research, healthcare professionals often believe their jobs are meaningful; they believe they’re making the world a better place.
To start your healthcare career out right, Payscale’s College ROI Report can help you narrow down your list to the best value colleges for healthcare careers.
| Rank | School Name | 20 Year Net ROI | Total 4 Year Cost | Graduation Rate | Typical Years to Graduate | Average Loan Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1051 | School Name: Eastern Illinois University (Out-of-State) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-103,900 | Total 4 Year Cost:$112,000 | Graduation Rate:55% | Typical Years to Graduate:5 | Average Loan Amount:$24,200 |
| Rank:1052 | School Name: SUNY College at Oswego (Out-of-State) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-112,100 | Total 4 Year Cost:$145,000 | Graduation Rate:64% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$29,300 |
| Rank:1053 | School Name: University of Oregon (Out-of-State) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-112,600 | Total 4 Year Cost:$226,000 | Graduation Rate:73% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$31,300 |
| Rank:1054 | School Name: Fordham University (Private) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-113,400 | Total 4 Year Cost:$321,000 | Graduation Rate:83% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$37,600 |
| Rank:1055 | School Name: Wilson College (Private) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-122,800 | Total 4 Year Cost:$162,000 | Graduation Rate:50% | Typical Years to Graduate:5 | Average Loan Amount:$36,700 |
| Rank:1056 | School Name: The Evergreen State College (Out-of-State) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-134,200 | Total 4 Year Cost:$185,000 | Graduation Rate:41% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$23,000 |
| Rank:1057 | School Name: Drury University (Private) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-137,800 | Total 4 Year Cost:$182,000 | Graduation Rate:64% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$33,200 |
| Rank:1058 | School Name: Faulkner University (Private) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-155,500 | Total 4 Year Cost:$150,000 | Graduation Rate:33% | Typical Years to Graduate:5 | Average Loan Amount:$37,200 |
| Rank:1059 | School Name: Delaware Valley University (Private) | 20 Year Net ROI:$-275,800 | Total 4 Year Cost:$235,000 | Graduation Rate:54% | Typical Years to Graduate:4 | Average Loan Amount:$41,400 |
PayScale calculates the College ROI Report for Healthcare Careers by using the salaries of alumni from each school who go on to work in the healthcare field, regardless of their undergraduate major, to calculate their median 20-year earnings. (All salary data comes from people who have taken the Payscale Salary Survey and told us their job title, salary and other facts in order to get their own personalized salary report.) We then subtract the cost of attending the school and compare how their earnings compare to those of the typical worker who did not earn a bachelor’s degree. People who received graduate degrees were not included in these calculations, so the numbers you see here do not include doctors, dentists, and many other of the highest-earning healthcare workers, since those jobs require a graduate degree and we can’t calculate how much they spent obtaining that additional education.
But there are many healthcare jobs that don’t require advanced degrees, and as the numbers on this list show, when it comes to College ROI, healthcare workers often see big gains. Examples of healthcare job titles that are typical of people on this list include physical therapist assistants, occupational therapists, laboratory technicians, dental hygienists, sonographers, ultrasound technicians, dieticians, nutritionals, emergency room technicians, operating room technicians and a wide variety of nurses and nursing managers.
Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan comes in high on the list of best college return on investment healthcare for workers. Ferris State was originally named Big Rapids Industrial School and had the unique mission of providing students with marketable skills to change society. This mission is obviously being accomplished, in part due to the successful healthcare workers who graduate from Ferris State University.
Texas Woman’s University (TWU) was established in 1901 as an all-female school, though it has accepted men into its health sciences graduate school in 1972, and fully opened its doors to men in 1994. The school remains unique, however, in that it requires all undergraduates — regardless of their proposed/intended degree — to take three hours of multicultural women’s studies in order to graduate.
The oldest institute of higher learning on the West Coast, San Jose State (SJSU) offers a nice perk: More San Jose State University alumni are hired by Silicon Valley firms than graduates of any other college or university.
Another public school on this list dominated by public schools is the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), which was named a “Next Generation University’ by The New America Foundation.
More rankings for best-value colleges:
Put a badge on it
Did your school rank well in one or more of the categories of the 2024 Payscale College ROI Report? You can easily share that good news with the world by placing a College ROI Report badge on your website.
EMBED CODE:
College salary report
Get up-to-date information on which colleges, degrees, and majors pay the most with breakouts for bachelor's degrees and associate's degrees by state and by type as well as common jobs by major with mid-career median pay.
Go to the report
The impact of a college degree on compensation
Learn how a bachelor’s degree affects salaries and which jobs see the most differentiation and get thought leadership and HR industry insights on how to manage graduate pay premiums and prepare for skills-based pay.
Go to the report