Looking For ROI? These ‘Best Value’ Colleges Score Highest For Internships & Career Placement

When it comes to choosing a college, few questions loom larger than what kind of job the degree can help you land. That’s why return-on-investment (ROI) is a powerful metric for prospective business majors. And while there are many ways to calculate ROI (including tuition costs, scholarships, and long-term earnings) career outcomes like internships and job placement often matter most.

Each year, The Princeton Review publishes its list of the Best Value Colleges, measuring ROI by combining academic quality, affordability, and career prospects. In the career category, two metrics stand out: how accessible internships are to students, and how well schools support long-term career placement.

INTERNSHIPS AT BEST VALUE COLLEGES

Not only do career-focused internships provide essential real-world experience and resume props, they often lead to full-time job offers for strong candidates. Knowing the schools where you’re more likely to land one is valuable information for students looking for strong ROI.

Princeton Review – a college admissions services company not associated with Princeton University – collects internship data from its student surveys, asking them to rate the accessibility of internship placement at their schools. It also breaks its best value lists into public and private institutions to account for the difference in price (as well as the difference in career outcomes.)

From its full list of 209 Best Value Colleges for 2025, Princeton Review calls out 20 public and 20 private schools with the highest internship satisfaction from their students. While Princeton evaluates internships across the full university, several of them also happen to have excellent business schools.

In fact, the top four of the public universities on its internship list were among the 104 undergraduate business programs ranked by Poets&Quants in 2025.

University of Michigan, for example, was rated the best for internship accessibility in the Princeton ranking. Its Ross School of Business, meanwhile, reported that 95.2% of 2024 graduates completed at least one business-specific internship during their program.

Students at Georgia Institute of Technology rated internship accessibility the second highest, and 91% of business majors at Scheller College of Business had a business-focused internship.

Top 20 Public Schools for Internships
Internship Rank	University	Location (City/State)	Full-Time Enrollment	P&Q Ranked B-School	2025 P&Q Rank
1	University of Michigan—Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, MI	34454	Ross School of Business	11
2	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, GA	20592	Scheller College of Business	15
3	The University of Texas at Dallas	Richardson, TX	21858	Jindal School of Management	70
4	Purdue University—West Lafayette	West Lafayette, IN	39170	Daniels School of Business	36
5	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Rolla, MO	5510
6	William & Mary	Williamsburg, VA	7055	Mason School of Business	20
7	Washington State University	Pullman, WA	21455
8	University of Washington	Seattle, WA	40754	Foster School of Business	32
9	University of Texas at Austin	Austin, TX	43165
10	Miami University	Oxford, OH	16816	Farmer School of Business	45
11	Clemson University	Clemson, SC	23401
12	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH	33572
13	Florida State University	Tallahassee, FL	32711
14	Michigan Technological University	Houghton, MI	6022
15	North Carolina State University	Raleigh, NC	28422
16	University of Georgia	Athens, GA	31514	Terry College of Business	33
17	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, VA	31035		39
18	University of Mary Washington	Fredericksburg, VA	3660	College of Business	84
19	Oregon State University	Corvallis, OR	25699	College of Business	83
20	The Ohio State University–Columbus	Columbus, OH	46815

Five out of the 20 top private universities and 10 out of 20 public universities rated for internship accessibility have business schools ranked by P&Q in 2025.

That includes D’Amore McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, where top internship access contributes directly to strong business career preparation in Boston. The university as a whole was rated the top private school for internships, while 96% of D’Amore McKim graduates reported completing a business focused internship. The b-school finished No. 13 on P&Q’s overall ranking in 2025.

Top 20 Private Schools for Internships
Internship Rank	University	Location (City/State)	Full-Time Enrollment	P&Q Ranked B-School	2025 P&Q Rank
1	Northeastern University	Boston, MA	22695	D’Amore McKim School of Business	13
2	Wabash College	Crawfordsville, IN	866
3	Washington and Lee University	Lexington, VA	1886
4	St. Lawrence University	Canton, NY	1947
5	Claremont McKenna College	Claremont, CA	1390
6	Denison University	Granville, OH	2394
7	Harvey Mudd College	Claremont, CA	921
8	Brigham Young University (UT)	Provo, UT	32221	Marriott School of Business	47
9	University of Richmond	University of Richmond, VA	3045	Robins School of Business	17
10	Stanford University	Stanford, CA	8054
11	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	Needham, MA	404
12	Hobart and William Smith Colleges	Geneva, NY	1794
13	Wake Forest University	Winston Salem, NC	5471	School of Business	18
14	Marquette University	Milwaukee, WI	8045
15	Austin College	Sherman, TX	1174
16	Hampden-Sydney College	Hampden-Sydney, VA	946
17	College of Wooster	Wooster, OH	1738
18	Rhodes College	Memphis, TN	1936
19	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH	4570
20	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester, MA	5558	The Business School at WPI	42

Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges for 2025 also highlight the best schools for metrics like financial aid, making an impact, and alumni networks. You can pour through these lists here.

NEXT PAGE: Top 20 Public and Private Universities for Career Prospects

© Copyright 2025 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.