Top colleges in Georgia by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Georgia with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus leads this list at $469,585 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
10 Yr. ROI
$469,585
Emory University
10 Yr. ROI
$361,081
University of Georgia
10 Yr. ROI
$288,220
Top 25 Top colleges in Georgia by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Public | 18,785 | $469,585 | Grad 93.7% · Net $12,028 |
| 2 | Emory University | GA | Private nonprofit | 7,298 | $361,081 | Grad 91.0% · Net $16,754 |
| 3 | University of Georgia | GA | Public | 32,137 | $288,220 | Grad 89.1% · Net $13,636 |
| 4 | Chamberlain University-Georgia | GA | Private for-profit | 1,940 | $279,264 | Grad 50.0% · Net $38,666 |
| 5 | Kennesaw State University | GA | Public | 41,254 | $210,694 | Grad 50.1% · Net $16,325 |
| 6 | Dalton State College | GA | Public | 4,553 | $209,562 | Grad 29.4% · Net $2,353 |
| 7 | Georgia Southwestern State University | GA | Public | 2,424 | $205,687 | Grad 33.2% · Net $10,170 |
| 8 | Clayton State University | GA | Public | 4,348 | $204,566 | Grad 37.5% · Net $8,868 |
| 9 | Augusta University | GA | Public | 5,613 | $199,574 | Grad 48.2% · Net $12,017 |
| 10 | Georgia College & State University | GA | Public | 5,947 | $197,272 | Grad 60.1% · Net $20,803 |
| 11 | Thomas University | GA | Private nonprofit | 998 | $192,559 | Grad 27.9% · Net $16,111 |
| 12 | University of West Georgia | GA | Public | 7,520 | $191,299 | Grad 43.7% · Net $11,787 |
| 13 | Georgia Southern University | GA | Public | 21,790 | $188,544 | Grad 53.6% · Net $16,785 |
| 14 | University of North Georgia | GA | Public | 16,146 | $187,826 | Grad 38.0% · Net $14,185 |
| 15 | Valdosta State University | GA | Public | 6,622 | $186,243 | Grad 44.6% · Net $10,804 |
| 16 | Mercer University | GA | Private nonprofit | 4,500 | $180,515 | Grad 72.3% · Net $24,778 |
| 17 | Georgia State University | GA | Public | 26,623 | $178,676 | Grad 51.0% · Net $12,365 |
| 18 | LaGrange College | GA | Private nonprofit | 636 | $176,814 | Grad 35.2% · Net $17,700 |
| 19 | Georgia Gwinnett College | GA | Public | 11,344 | $175,044 | Grad 21.8% · Net $10,080 |
| 20 | Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College | GA | Public | 3,208 | $173,019 | Grad 39.9% · Net $6,874 |
| 21 | Berry College | GA | Private nonprofit | 2,245 | $172,078 | Grad 71.2% · Net $21,964 |
| 22 | Middle Georgia State University | GA | Public | 6,574 | $168,548 | Grad 26.5% · Net $11,448 |
| 23 | Oglethorpe University | GA | Private nonprofit | 1,352 | $167,814 | Grad 54.8% · Net $20,156 |
| 24 | Young Harris College | GA | Private nonprofit | 755 | $166,323 | Grad 38.1% · Net $12,549 |
| 25 | Brenau University | GA | Private nonprofit | 1,029 | $163,316 | Grad 33.7% · Net $17,968 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; 51 campuses met every filter and the top 25 are published.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.