The 10 Biggest Party Schools That Are Worth The Money

Party schools often have the reputation of being more focused on fun than learning, but many of them are definitely worth the price of a degree.

When looking at data for students paying standard or out-of-state tuition, Lehigh University has the best return on investment, according to salary-tracking website PayScale. Lehigh was recently ranked #10 on the Princeton Review's list of the top party schools in the nation.

In compiling its ranking, PayScale looked at salary data for employees with bachelor's 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 costs - tuition and extra fees such as room, board, and books.

PayScale ranked the colleges on a 20-year net ROI, 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 >>

While Lehigh topped our list - with a total cost of $219,200 and $526,900 20-year ROI - most of PayScale's ranking featured both in-state and out-of-state ROI for several large public universities.

Here are the 10 party schools that are most worth your money:

1. Lehigh University - Cost: $219,200, ROI: $526,900
2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Cost: $172,600, ROI: $482,200
3. University of Maryland, College Park - Cost: $167,700, ROI: $429,200
4. University of Texas at Austin - Cost: $202,800, ROI: $400,400
5. Pennsylvania State University - Cost: $179,000, ROI: $369,400
6. University of California, Santa Barbara - Cost: $222,100, ROI: $364,500
7. University of Florida - Cost: $168,500, ROI: $357,700
8. Miami University - Cost: $186,400, ROI: $337,700
9. Syracuse University - Cost: $220,100, ROI: $324,700
10. DePauw University - Cost: $192,600, ROI: $312,800