P&Q's Top Value Undergraduate Business Schools Of 2021

University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School

Let’s be real. A college degree is an investment. Yeah, it’s about new experiences, growth, and learning. But one of the most important benefits of earning a college degree in today’s society is earning potential. Especially a business degree. Research shows the average salary for a high school graduate between 22 and 27-years-old earned $30,000. In 2019. For college graduates, that average yearly earning was $44,000. Over a lifetime, college graduates can expect to make around $1 million, on average, more than those with a high school degree.

Each year at Poets&Quants we survey business schools asking what their estimated total four-year cost is and the average salary of its most recent graduating class. We use those two datapoints to put together a straightforward glimpse into business schools with the best early-career return on investment. To calculate an early ROI, we simply took the average salary of 2020 graduates, multiplied it by five for five years of work, and subtracted that total from the estimated total cost of earning a degree from that school in four years.

Using that calculation, no other school has a better early return than the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Kenan-Flagler graduates can expect to pay about $98,936 if they graduate within four years and have no scholarship or other financial aid. Class of 2020 graduates of the Kenan-Flagler school reported an average starting salary of $72,357 — or $361,785 over five years — for a five-year ROI of $262,849. The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business followed with an ROI of $257,291. And the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce rounded out the top three with a five-year ROI of $256,348. Each of those three schools finished in the top-six of this year’s P&Q ranking of best undergraduate business schools.

Rank	School	In-State Total Cost	Five-Year Total	Five-Year ROI
6	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	$98,936	$361,785	$262,849
4	University of Michigan	$131,594	$388,885	$257,291
2	University of Virginia	$153,302	$409,650	$256,348
28	Binghamton University	$102,680	$343,500	$240,820
31	Brigham Young University	$61,176	$290,775	$229,599
11	University of Texas At Austin	$122,960	$352,275	$229,315
19	Indiana University	$104,623	$326,940	$222,317
22	University of Washington	$117,276	$336,685	$219,409
30	University of Pittsburgh	$83,224	$296,170	$212,946
39	Miami University	$122,936	$330,670	$207,734

As you can see, top-ranked public schools have the best early-career ROI thanks to the relatively low total costs of attending and strong average starting salaries. Pricier private schools dominate the bottom of the list. For example, graduates of Hult International Business School have a five-year ROI of -$58,800 with a total estimated cost of $304,800 and an estimated five-year earning potential of $246,000. The University of Denver Daniels College of Business also has a negative ROI at -$25,570, as does Ithaca College’s School of Business with -$730.

Rank	School	In-State Total Cost	Five-Year Total	Five-Year ROI
32	Hult International Business School	$304,800	$246,000	-$58,800
50	University of Denver	$294,360	$268,790	-$25,570
93	Ithaca College*	$248,105	$247,375	-$730
87	Santa Clara University*	$296,992	$297,330	$338
27	Boston University	$310,648	$311,895	$1,247
35	Bucknell University	$320,640	$324,370	$3,730
70	University of the Pacific	$275,388	$290,415	$15,027
26	Southern Methodist University	$316,504	$337,455	$20,951
72	Saint Louis University	$236,636	$258,525	$21,889
78	Sacred Heart University	$238,500	$261,230	$22,730