PayScale releases return on investment data for Texas colleges

Texas colleges, universities ranked by their ROI



PayScale, an online compensation information company, has released a trove of data regarding the return on investment for attending colleges and universities in the U.S. We've compiled the Texas schools on that list and ranked them according to their net 20-year ROI with no financial aid. Note: Total cost and ROI numbers are only for on-campus students.



Source: PayScale

less Texas colleges, universities ranked by their ROI



PayScale, an online compensation information company, has released a trove of data regarding the return on investment for attending colleges and universities in ... more Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Image 1 of / 84 Caption Close PayScale releases return on investment data for Texas colleges 1 / 84 Back to Gallery

When you finally hold that college diploma, you must wonder: Did you really get what you paid for?

PayScale, an online compensation information company, compiled and ranked individual colleges and universities on their returns on investment. The ROI refers to the amount of money students spend on their education and the "profit" they earn after obtaining their degree.

The group says it surveyed 78,500 college-educated workers from 2013 to 2016. The net 20-year ROI stat was calculated by using the earnings differential less the on-campus cost, and the earnings differential less the off-campus cost.

"For example, a school with a $1,000,000 Earnings Differential for graduates and $200,000 in Costs would have an $800,000 20 Year Return on Investment," PayScale's statement reads. "This measure is useful for high school seniors evaluating their likely financial return from attending and graduating college."

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In the gallery above, we used only the total cost and ROI data for students who were attending college on campus and without financial aid. The highest ranked school in the Texas list was No. 29 out of 1,345 schools nationwide. Only a few schools on the list did not include their costs for out-of-state students.

Looking at the data across the United States, PayScale noted engineering schools tend to have the best ROI for students. Public schools also boast better returns than their private school counterparts, though in Texas, a private school did happen to have a better ROI rating than the rest.

See how much money you can get by attending these schools in the gallery above.