Best Value Colleges for Business Careers

A business or finance career path can definitely lead to a healthy salary—or better—but before you command a boardroom or ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, you’ll probably need a college degree. And since you’re a future mogul, you should be thinking in terms of college return on investment for business majors before you choose a college.

Find out exactly what you should be paid
RankSchool Name20 Year Net ROI
Total 4 Year Cost
Graduation Rate
Typical Years to Graduate
Average Loan Amount
Rank:1School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,687,000Total 4 Year Cost:$293,000Graduation Rate:96%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$28,900
Rank:2School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,571,000Total 4 Year Cost:$148,000Graduation Rate:83%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$40,000
Rank:3School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,300,000Total 4 Year Cost:$20,000Graduation Rate:81%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$16,700
Rank:4School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,294,000Total 4 Year Cost:$0Graduation Rate:84%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:-
Rank:5School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,265,000Total 4 Year Cost:$235,000Graduation Rate:70%Typical Years to Graduate:5Average Loan Amount:$39,800
Rank:6School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,226,000Total 4 Year Cost:$0Graduation Rate:91%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:-
Rank:7School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,132,000Total 4 Year Cost:$108,000Graduation Rate:74%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$29,000
Rank:8School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,111,000Total 4 Year Cost:$305,000Graduation Rate:93%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$32,300
Rank:9School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,100,000Total 4 Year Cost:$316,000Graduation Rate:96%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$42,000
Rank:10School Name:20 Year Net ROI:$1,099,000Total 4 Year Cost:$299,000Graduation Rate:97%Typical Years to Graduate:4Average Loan Amount:$35,200

Palo Alto’s Stanford University perennially appears high on a number of lists in Payscale’s College ROI Report, as does Ivy League Cornell University. Located in Ithaca, New York, business is just one area where Cornell alumni shine, but if you are interested in a business career, or a finance career path, you may want to aim high and dress warm, because Cornell is not only a great value, it’s pretty cold in the winter.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business is world-renowned, and is one of the only business schools in the United States with a strong undergraduate program, so it’s no surprise that Penn provides one of the highest returns on investment for alumni who go on to work in business and finance. UPenn is the alma mater of Peter Lynch of the Magellan Fund, Elon Musk and even Warren Buffet. (Warren Buffet dropped out of Wharton’s undergraduate program after just two years as a student there.)

A career path in business can lead to hundreds of different types of jobs, including anything from business analyst, to investment banker, to buyer, to accountant, to underwriter and many, many more.