College ranking

Top colleges in Wisconsin by 10-year ROI

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Wisconsin with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Milwaukee School of Engineering leads this list at $296,882 (10 Yr. ROI).

Leaders: top 3

Milwaukee School of Engineering

10 Yr. ROI $296,882

WI · Private nonprofit

University of Wisconsin-Madison

10 Yr. ROI $286,980

WI · Public

University of Wisconsin-Platteville

10 Yr. ROI $240,215

WI · Public

Top 25 Top colleges in Wisconsin by 10-year ROI

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	10 Yr. ROI	Also see
1	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	Private nonprofit	2,654	$296,882	Grad 63.3% · Net $27,027
2	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	Public	36,902	$286,980	Grad 89.8% · Net $16,600
3	University of Wisconsin-Platteville	WI	Public	5,837	$240,215	Grad 58.3% · Net $15,451
4	Marquette University	WI	Private nonprofit	7,660	$233,106	Grad 79.4% · Net $30,561
5	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	WI	Public	9,277	$215,095	Grad 71.0% · Net $17,064
6	Bellin College	WI	Private nonprofit	372	$212,406	Grad 66.7% · Net $34,765
7	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire	WI	Public	8,895	$211,780	Grad 62.0% · Net $16,133
8	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	Public	9,405	$211,024	Grad 55.6% · Net $13,737
9	Viterbo University	WI	Private nonprofit	1,249	$208,158	Grad 62.8% · Net $22,797
10	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay	WI	Public	6,341	$207,168	Grad 46.7% · Net $12,211
11	University of Wisconsin-Stout	WI	Public	5,842	$203,136	Grad 52.5% · Net $17,533
12	University of Wisconsin-Parkside	WI	Public	2,844	$201,898	Grad 41.2% · Net $11,233
13	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	WI	Public	16,758	$199,476	Grad 50.0% · Net $15,625
14	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh	WI	Public	6,877	$198,412	Grad 47.2% · Net $16,492
15	University of Wisconsin-River Falls	WI	Public	4,205	$192,834	Grad 58.0% · Net $14,703
16	Carroll University	WI	Private nonprofit	2,523	$189,585	Grad 69.1% · Net $24,205
17	Alverno College	WI	Private nonprofit	631	$186,086	Grad 47.1% · Net $20,863
18	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point	WI	Public	7,306	$181,066	Grad 53.4% · Net $14,757
19	University of Wisconsin-Superior	WI	Public	1,807	$178,395	Grad 43.4% · Net $13,843
20	Wisconsin Lutheran College	WI	Private nonprofit	943	$176,504	Grad 65.7% · Net $24,761
21	Marian University	WI	Private nonprofit	1,010	$170,052	Grad 46.5% · Net $22,225
22	Edgewood University	WI	Private nonprofit	1,107	$167,364	Grad 60.6% · Net $28,487
23	Lakeland University	WI	Private nonprofit	1,212	$166,410	Grad 38.0% · Net $23,722
24	Mount Mary University	WI	Private nonprofit	631	$162,305	Grad 53.6% · Net $17,607
25	Ripon College	WI	Private nonprofit	688	$156,562	Grad 59.3% · Net $20,233

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; 33 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.

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