by our College Data Analytics TeamWhen pursuing a degree in today's world, there are many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking as one thing you can use to help make this decision. A school that typically has a high sticker price may actually be very affordable, depending on how much need-based financial aid you receive.
See What's Included in This Value Report:
After analyzing 1,096 schools in the United States, we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Master's Degree programs. Instead of depending on subjective information to rank the best value schools, we focus on objective factors in our analysis. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking, we first consider its average net price of students from families making $30-$48k a year. The net price is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives. But, a school that excels in providing value for your money must also be a great school overall as well.
To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
We go into more detail on these factors on our best value ranking methodology page.
Keep scrolling for the top schools in this ranking or select one of the other rankings methods below.
If you know what major you want to study, check out our list of the best value schools by major. If you're interested in other degree levels, you can view one of the lists below.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best value (income $30-$48k) school for master’s degrees in the United States in this year’s ranking. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has the honor of being ranked #1 in Massachusetts for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A rank of #2 on our Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list means Stanford University is a great place for students working on their degree. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Stanford, California.
Stanford University has the honor of being ranked #1 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
A rank of #3 on our Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list means University of Pennsylvania is a great place for students working on their degree. University of Pennsylvania is a large private not-for-profit school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
University of Pennsylvania has the honor of being ranked #1 in Pennsylvania for overall quality on top of being a good value.
The quality degree programs at Columbia University in the City of New York helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k). Located in New York, New York, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Not only is Columbia University in the City of New York a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in New York for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at Columbia University in the City of New York
Out of the 1,096 master’s degree schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Johns Hopkins University landed the #5 spot on the list. Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit institution located in Baltimore, Maryland.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Johns Hopkins University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Maryland.
Harvard University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Harvard University has the honor of being ranked #2 in Massachusetts for overall quality on top of being a good value.
University of Chicago came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Chicago is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Illinois.
California Institute of Technology landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Caltech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California.
Read full value report on California Institute of Technology
Duke University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Duke is located in Durham, North Carolina and has a fairly large student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Duke University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of North Carolina.
With a ranking of #10, Georgetown University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia.
Not only is Georgetown University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in District of Columbia for overall quality.
With a ranking of #11, Cornell University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Ithaca, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Cornell University has the honor of being ranked #2 in New York for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Northwestern University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Located in Evanston, Illinois, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Northwestern University has the honor of being ranked #2 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Yale University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking, coming in at #13. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in New Haven, Connecticut.
Not only is Yale University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Connecticut for overall quality.
Princeton University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Princeton, New Jersey.
Not only is Princeton University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in New Jersey for overall quality.
With a ranking of #15, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Not only is Washington University in St Louis a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Missouri for overall quality.
Purdue University - Main Campus landed the #16 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Located in West Lafayette, Indiana, the school is a large public institution.
Not only is Purdue University - Main Campus a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Indiana for overall quality.
Rice University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Houston, Texas.
Rice University has the honor of being ranked #1 in Texas for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #18, University of Florida did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. UF is located in Gainesville, Florida and has a large student population. It is a public school.
Not only is University of Florida a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Florida for overall quality.
With a ranking of #19, Brown University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Brown is a private not-for-profit institution located in Providence, Rhode Island.
Brown University has the honor of being ranked #1 in Rhode Island for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #20, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. U-M is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has a large student population. It is a public school.
Not only is University of Michigan - Ann Arbor a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Michigan for overall quality.
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #21 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list. Madison, Wisconsin is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
Not only is University of Wisconsin - Madison a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Wisconsin for overall quality.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #22 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Seattle, Washington is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus has the honor of being ranked #1 in Washington for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking, coming in at #23. UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California and has a large student population. It is a public school.
Not only is University of California - Los Angeles a great value, but it is also ranked #5 in California for overall quality.
Read full value report on University of California - Los Angeles
With a ranking of #24, did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) list.
Vanderbilt University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
Vanderbilt University has the honor of being ranked #1 in Tennessee for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Not only did these schools make the top 50 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
To learn more about the schools below, just click on their names:
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | Value Report |
| 52 | Queens College | Queens, NY | Value Report |
| 53 | University of California - San Diego | La Jolla, CA | Value Report |
| 54 | Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights, KY | Value Report |
| 55 | University of Massachusetts Amherst | Amherst, MA | Value Report |
| 56 | William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA | Value Report |
| 57 | California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino, CA | Value Report |
| 58 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD | Value Report |
| 59 | Middlebury College | Middlebury, VT | Value Report |
| 60 | Western Washington University | Bellingham, WA | Value Report |
| 61 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ | Value Report |
| 61 | Michigan Technological University | Houghton, MI | Value Report |
| 63 | Florida State University | Tallahassee, FL | Value Report |
| 64 | California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton, CA | Value Report |
| 65 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH | Value Report |
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|
All Majors and Fields of Study >
These schools also performed well in our Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) ranking:
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 166 | University of Southern Maine | Portland, ME | Value Report |
| 167 | Rhode Island College | Providence, RI | Value Report |
| 168 | University of St Francis | Joliet, IL | Value Report |
| 169 | SUNY Old Westbury | Old Westbury, NY | Value Report |
| 170 | Oakland University | Rochester Hills, MI | Value Report |
| 171 | George Mason University | Fairfax, VA | Value Report |
| 172 | Texas Woman’s University | Denton, TX | Value Report |
| 173 | Holy Family University | Philadelphia, PA | Value Report |
| 174 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo, CA | Value Report |
| 175 | Fresno Pacific University | Fresno, CA | Value Report |
| 176 | Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers, FL | Value Report |
| 177 | Southeastern Oklahoma State University | Durant, OK | Value Report |
| 178 | University of Mississippi | University, MS | Value Report |
| 179 | University of Wisconsin - Whitewater | Whitewater, WI | Value Report |
| 180 | Saint Mary’s College | Notre Dame, IN | Value Report |
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.