10 Colleges That Are Worth The Money

California engineering school Harvey Mudd College has the best return on investment of any higher education institution in the United States, according to a new report from salary tracking website PayScale.

In order to compile its ranking, PayScale looked at salary data for employees with bachelor degrees, not including any jobs that would require a graduate degree, such as law or medicine. The net cost of each school was determined by looking at graduation rates, financial aid, and "campus cost" - which is made up of tuition and extra costs such as room, board, and books.

PayScale ranked the colleges on a 20 year net ROI, which is defined as "the total earnings, minus the cost of the degree, minus the average earnings over the person with only a high school education," according to 538, where we first saw this report.

Click over to PayScale's website for more on their methodology >>

Harvey Mudd topped PayScale's list with a $229,500 total price-tag to graduate, but a total 20 year income of $980,900. The rest of the top 10 was also made up by tech schools, including MIT, Georgia Tech, and Stanford.

PayScale's 10 schools with the best ROI below:

1. Harvey Mudd College - Cost: $229,500, ROI: $980,900
2. California Institute of Technology - Cost: $220,400, ROI: $837,600
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Cost: $223,400, ROI: $831,1000
4. Stanford University - Cost: $236,300, ROI: $789,500
5. Colorado School of Mines (In-State) - Cost: $114,200, ROI: $783,400
6. Georgia Institute of Technology (In-State) - Cost: $92,250, ROI: $755,600
7. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology - Cost: $217,400, ROI: $736,200
8. Polytechnic Institute of New York University - Cost: $223,900, ROI: $724,500
9. Stevens Institute of Technology - Cost: $250,900, ROI: $722,400
10. Colorado School of Mines (Out-Of-State) - Cost: $178,500, ROI: $719,000