by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take when you want to pursue a degree. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Best Schools For The Money For Those Making $48-$75k for a Doctorate ranking - to help you make that decision. You may be surprised that some normally high-priced schools offer very generous financial aid packages to those who qualify.
In This Year's Value Report:
Our analysis looked at 654 schools in the United States to determine which ones have the best value Doctor's Degree programs. Our ranking methodology focuses on different objective factors to make this determination of the best value schools. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.
When determining the value of a school in our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking, we first look at its average net price of a student coming from a family that makes $48-$75k a year. The net price is defined as the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that the student receives. In addition, the overall quality of a school is important to ensure a good education, not just how much it costs.
To make it into this list a school must offer a quality education like the schools in our Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considers factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
We go into more detail on these factors on our best value ranking methodology page.
You can scroll down to see the top schools for this ranking, but you may also want to view some of the other ranking methods listed below.
Know what field you want to major in? Make sure you check out our best value schools by major. In addition, you can select one of the links below to see the best value colleges for other degree levels.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2024 rankings named Massachusetts Institute of Technology the best value (income $48-$75k) school in the United States for students working on their doctor’s degree. 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.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #2 on our 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. Located in Stanford, California, the school is a fairly large private not-for-profit institution.
Not only is Stanford University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in California for overall quality.
A rank of #3 on our Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list means Columbia University in the City of New York is a great place for students working on their degree. This large private not-for-profit school is located in New York, New York.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Columbia University in the City of New York is ranked #2 for quality in the state of New York.
Learn More About Value at Columbia University in the City of New York
The quality degree programs at Harvard University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k). This large private not-for-profit school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Harvard University is ranked #2 for quality in the state of Massachusetts.
The quality degree programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k). UPenn is a large private not-for-profit school situated 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.
With a ranking of #6, Yale University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. New Haven, Connecticut is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Yale University has the honor of being ranked #1 in Connecticut for overall quality on top of being a good value.
California Institute of Technology landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Caltech is located in Pasadena, California and has a small student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Not only is California Institute of Technology a great value, but it is also ranked #4 in California for overall quality.
With a ranking of #8, Cornell University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. Cornell University is a large private not-for-profit school located in Ithaca, New York.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Cornell University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of New York.
With a ranking of #9, Johns Hopkins University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. This large private not-for-profit school is 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.
Rice University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Houston, Texas.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Rice University is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Texas.
Princeton University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Princeton, New Jersey is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Princeton University has the honor of being ranked #1 in New Jersey for overall quality on top of being a good value.
University of Chicago landed the #12 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
University of Chicago has the honor of being ranked #1 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) 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 #1 in Indiana for overall quality.
Northwestern University landed the #14 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and has a large student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Northwestern University has the honor of being ranked #2 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Vanderbilt University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Vanderbilt University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Vanderbilt University has the honor of being ranked #1 in Tennessee for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Duke University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Durham, North Carolina.
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.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus ranked #17 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. UW Seattle is a public institution located in Seattle, Washington.
Not only is University of Washington - Seattle Campus a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Washington for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
University of Florida ranked #18 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. This large public school is located in Gainesville, Florida.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Florida is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Florida.
Brown University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking, coming in at #19. Brown University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Providence, Rhode Island.
Not only is Brown University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Rhode Island for overall quality.
Georgetown University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, the school is a large private not-for-profit institution.
Not only is Georgetown University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in District of Columbia for overall quality.
Washington University in St Louis did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking, coming in at #21. WUSTL is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Washington University in St Louis has the honor of being ranked #1 in Missouri for overall quality on top of being a good value.
University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking, coming in at #22. This large public school is located in Los Angeles, California.
Not only is University of California - Los Angeles a great value, but it is also ranked #6 in California for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at University of California - Los Angeles
University of California - Berkeley did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking, coming in at #23. UC Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California.
University of California - Berkeley has the honor of being ranked #2 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #24 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking. UW - Madison is a public institution located in Madison, Wisconsin.
University of Wisconsin - Madison has the honor of being ranked #1 in Wisconsin for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #25, Washington and Lee University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) list. Washington and Lee is located in Lexington, Virginia and has a small student population. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Not only is Washington and Lee University a great value, but it is also ranked #6 in Virginia for overall quality.
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 | Hunter College | New York, NY | Value Report |
| 52 | California State University - Fresno | Fresno, CA | Value Report |
| 53 | Florida International University | Miami, FL | Value Report |
| 54 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | Value Report |
| 55 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, PA | Value Report |
| 56 | The University of West Florida | Pensacola, FL | Value Report |
| 57 | University of South Florida - Main Campus | Tampa, FL | Value Report |
| 58 | Tufts University | Medford, MA | Value Report |
| 59 | California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | Value Report |
| 59 | University of Wyoming | Laramie, WY | Value Report |
| 61 | University of Maryland - Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD | Value Report |
| 62 | University of Illinois at Chicago | Chicago, IL | Value Report |
| 63 | Brigham Young University - Provo | Provo, UT | Value Report |
| 64 | California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento, CA | Value Report |
| 65 | Colorado School of Mines | Golden, CO | Value Report |
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | La Crosse, WI | Value Report |
| 92 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH | Value Report |
| 93 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | Value Report |
| 94 | University of the Pacific | Stockton, CA | Value Report |
| 95 | University of Mary | Bismarck, ND | Value Report |
| 96 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA | Value Report |
| 97 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ | Value Report |
| 98 | University of Louisiana at Monroe | Monroe, LA | Value Report |
| 99 | Towson University | Towson, MD | Value Report |
All Majors and Fields of Study >
These schools also performed well in our Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $48-$75k) ranking:
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Marshall University | Huntington, WV | Value Report |
| 101 | University of North Texas | Denton, TX | Value Report |
| 102 | Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis | Indianapolis, IN | Value Report |
| 103 | University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls, IA | Value Report |
| 104 | Oakland University | Rochester Hills, MI | Value Report |
| 105 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA | Value Report |
| 106 | University of California - Riverside | Riverside, CA | Value Report |
| 107 | University of Michigan - Dearborn | Dearborn, MI | Value Report |
| 108 | Eastern Washington University | Cheney, WA | Value Report |
| 109 | University of Missouri - Columbia | Columbia, MO | Value Report |
| 110 | Ball State University | Muncie, IN | Value Report |
| 111 | National Louis University | Chicago, IL | Value Report |
| 112 | Holy Family University | Philadelphia, PA | Value Report |
| 113 | Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers, FL | Value Report |
| 114 | University of Wisconsin - Whitewater | Whitewater, WI | Value Report |
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.