College ranking

Affordable strong colleges for moderate selectivity

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

Proxy for “B-student friendly” lists without high-school GPA in federal data: admission rate between 40% and 78%, 150% completion ≥ 62%, middle-income net price metric under $22,000 where available, sorted by ROI. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College leads this list at $332,190 (10 Yr. ROI).

Leaders: top 3

CUNY Bernard M Baruch College

10 Yr. ROI $332,190

NY · Public

SUNY Maritime College

10 Yr. ROI $326,120

NY · Public

New Jersey Institute of Technology

10 Yr. ROI $303,564

NJ · Public

Top 100 Affordable strong colleges for moderate selectivity

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	10 Yr. ROI	Also see
1	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	Public	16,154	$332,190	Grad 72.1% · Net $3,033
2	SUNY Maritime College	NY	Public	1,285	$326,120	Grad 64.4% · Net $22,367
3	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	Public	9,019	$303,564	Grad 72.8% · Net $16,504
4	University of Florida-Online	FL	Public	4,627	$298,588	Grad 84.7% · Net $4,815
5	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	Public	30,760	$298,522	Grad 88.6% · Net $15,678
6	Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO	Public	5,521	$297,370	Grad 64.4% · Net $16,298
7	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	Private nonprofit	2,654	$296,739	Grad 67.1% · Net $22,453
8	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	Public	36,258	$295,067	Grad 85.1% · Net $14,355
9	Illinois Institute of Technology	IL	Private nonprofit	2,833	$292,532	Grad 75.2% · Net $18,425
10	Virginia Military Institute	VA	Public	1,527	$282,064	Grad 76.2% · Net $17,113
11	University of California-Davis	CA	Public	32,253	$277,662	Grad 85.7% · Net $14,741
12	University of Detroit Mercy	MI	Private nonprofit	2,438	$262,550	Grad 67.2% · Net $15,232
13	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	Public	44,503	$260,795	Grad 83.1% · Net $14,600
14	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	Public	25,042	$259,913	Grad 68.4% · Net $11,531
15	Brigham Young University	UT	Private nonprofit	32,952	$255,650	Grad 81.0% · Net $15,564
16	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	Public	36,902	$255,566	Grad 89.5% · Net $17,354
17	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	Public	30,923	$250,282	Grad 86.2% · Net $24,953
18	University of Delaware	DE	Public	19,071	$247,129	Grad 80.5% · Net $17,799
19	Stony Brook University	NY	Public	18,101	$245,567	Grad 75.6% · Net $18,784
20	Rutgers University-Camden	NJ	Public	3,753	$245,218	Grad 66.7% · Net $18,745
21	University of St Francis	IL	Private nonprofit	1,223	$241,399	Grad 66.8% · Net $13,006
22	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	Public	7,709	$240,428	Grad 63.7% · Net $19,703
23	University of the Pacific	CA	Private nonprofit	3,204	$238,558	Grad 69.0% · Net $25,447
24	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	Public	27,371	$233,282	Grad 84.8% · Net $17,303
25	California State University-Long Beach	CA	Public	35,924	$233,102	Grad 68.9% · Net $10,440
26	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	MD	Public	10,701	$232,626	Grad 70.0% · Net $16,467
27	University of San Diego	CA	Private nonprofit	5,671	$230,938	Grad 83.7% · Net $30,365
28	The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	Public	21,751	$225,335	Grad 75.7% · Net $18,267
29	University of Rochester	NY	Private nonprofit	6,331	$225,108	Grad 85.4% · Net $29,278
30	Florida International University	FL	Public	39,508	$224,516	Grad 74.4% · Net $9,288
31	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	Public	59,615	$222,804	Grad 83.9% · Net $21,315
32	University of California-Riverside	CA	Public	22,593	$222,026	Grad 76.0% · Net $14,304
33	Lewis University	IL	Private nonprofit	4,015	$220,279	Grad 66.6% · Net $17,028
34	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	Public	23,671	$219,860	Grad 83.3% · Net $22,383
35	University of Houston	TX	Public	38,380	$218,816	Grad 64.6% · Net $14,276
36	University of Connecticut	CT	Public	19,835	$218,504	Grad 83.3% · Net $25,097
37	University of South Florida	FL	Public	37,207	$218,380	Grad 76.8% · Net $9,812
38	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	Public	37,751	$216,913	Grad 83.6% · Net $24,406
39	University of Rhode Island	RI	Public	13,381	$214,230	Grad 73.3% · Net $21,440
40	Florida Atlantic University	FL	Public	23,757	$213,482	Grad 62.6% · Net $8,752
41	University of Central Florida	FL	Public	59,146	$211,954	Grad 78.0% · Net $10,411
42	Wofford College	SC	Private nonprofit	1,816	$211,630	Grad 84.2% · Net $18,732
43	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	Public	4,898	$211,128	Grad 69.8% · Net $18,173
44	DePauw University	IN	Private nonprofit	1,905	$210,790	Grad 74.7% · Net $22,264
45	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	Public	22,734	$210,711	Grad 75.3% · Net $15,300
46	University of Tulsa	OK	Private nonprofit	2,813	$210,334	Grad 72.3% · Net $15,000
47	Carroll University	WI	Private nonprofit	2,523	$208,842	Grad 70.7% · Net $15,193
48	University at Buffalo	NY	Public	20,112	$208,019	Grad 75.2% · Net $20,995
49	SUNY College at Geneseo	NY	Public	3,869	$207,928	Grad 71.5% · Net $18,211
50	Saint Louis University	MO	Private nonprofit	7,267	$207,890	Grad 79.5% · Net $24,398
51	University of La Verne	CA	Private nonprofit	3,050	$206,636	Grad 63.1% · Net $20,161
52	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	Public	17,940	$206,322	Grad 75.1% · Net $17,890
53	University of North Florida	FL	Public	13,359	$206,194	Grad 69.2% · Net $10,154
54	Bradley University	IL	Private nonprofit	3,574	$205,882	Grad 76.2% · Net $22,719
55	University of Alabama in Huntsville	AL	Public	6,591	$205,628	Grad 64.3% · Net $18,796
56	James Madison University	VA	Public	20,888	$202,618	Grad 79.7% · Net $23,322
57	Hampden-Sydney College	VA	Private nonprofit	946	$199,701	Grad 62.2% · Net $22,400
58	St. Joseph's University-New York	NY	Private nonprofit	3,144	$199,401	Grad 68.8% · Net $19,035
59	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	WI	Public	9,277	$198,418	Grad 71.0% · Net $16,210
60	Rockhurst University	MO	Private nonprofit	1,580	$194,560	Grad 74.6% · Net $25,884
61	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	Public	45,638	$193,448	Grad 87.7% · Net $17,339
62	University of Minnesota-Morris	MN	Public	936	$193,204	Grad 62.5% · Net $8,837
63	Texas Tech University	TX	Public	32,394	$192,353	Grad 68.7% · Net $19,070
64	St. Mary's College of Maryland	MD	Public	1,603	$190,769	Grad 70.0% · Net $18,441
65	University of Mary	ND	Private nonprofit	2,416	$189,056	Grad 66.6% · Net $17,770
66	Centre College	KY	Private nonprofit	1,400	$189,012	Grad 80.7% · Net $20,781
67	Oregon State University	OR	Public	30,743	$188,680	Grad 70.1% · Net $19,604
68	Ursuline College	OH	Private nonprofit	670	$187,362	Grad 66.7% · Net $16,164
69	York College of Pennsylvania	PA	Private nonprofit	3,265	$185,832	Grad 64.1% · Net $18,556
70	SUNY Oneonta	NY	Public	4,643	$184,776	Grad 68.8% · Net $19,158
71	Kalamazoo College	MI	Private nonprofit	1,149	$184,726	Grad 76.0% · Net $19,072
72	University of Vermont	VT	Public	11,743	$184,141	Grad 78.6% · Net $19,343
73	Canisius University	NY	Private nonprofit	1,685	$181,317	Grad 66.4% · Net $17,940
74	Auburn University	AL	Public	26,816	$181,146	Grad 82.0% · Net $24,323
75	University of Arkansas	AR	Public	28,677	$179,436	Grad 70.5% · Net $18,209
76	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	Public	30,594	$179,190	Grad 68.8% · Net $19,151
77	Viterbo University	WI	Private nonprofit	1,249	$177,598	Grad 68.4% · Net $21,260
78	Wabash College	IN	Private nonprofit	866	$177,278	Grad 77.0% · Net $24,336
79	Gustavus Adolphus College	MN	Private nonprofit	1,878	$175,642	Grad 76.6% · Net $22,900
80	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	Public	30,418	$175,542	Grad 73.9% · Net $18,976
81	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	Public	21,773	$175,409	Grad 68.2% · Net $17,447
82	North Central College	IL	Private nonprofit	2,428	$172,840	Grad 64.0% · Net $21,044
83	Mount St. Mary's University	MD	Private nonprofit	1,768	$172,344	Grad 65.4% · Net $22,655
84	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	NY	Public	1,839	$171,167	Grad 66.3% · Net $18,952
85	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	Public	29,820	$170,586	Grad 78.8% · Net $22,811
86	Augustana College	IL	Private nonprofit	2,490	$169,314	Grad 72.9% · Net $22,736
87	New College of Florida	FL	Public	843	$169,122	Grad 66.7% · Net $7,195
88	Gannon University	PA	Private nonprofit	2,365	$168,935	Grad 66.4% · Net $22,553
89	Rowan University	NJ	Public	15,841	$168,920	Grad 67.4% · Net $22,408
90	State University of New York at New Paltz	NY	Public	6,086	$168,303	Grad 71.6% · Net $18,809
91	Muhlenberg College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,727	$168,299	Grad 82.2% · Net $28,905
92	Saint Mary's College	IN	Private nonprofit	1,458	$167,366	Grad 69.3% · Net $25,292
93	Coe College	IA	Private nonprofit	1,164	$165,390	Grad 65.9% · Net $18,745
94	St Olaf College	MN	Private nonprofit	3,093	$165,098	Grad 84.0% · Net $23,874
95	Roberts Wesleyan University	NY	Private nonprofit	1,149	$163,291	Grad 66.7% · Net $23,130
96	Elizabethtown College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,868	$162,978	Grad 76.2% · Net $26,598
97	State University of New York at Cortland	NY	Public	5,901	$161,590	Grad 68.0% · Net $22,345
98	University of Evansville	IN	Private nonprofit	1,539	$161,529	Grad 64.5% · Net $18,499
99	Rhodes College	TN	Private nonprofit	1,836	$159,868	Grad 84.5% · Net $28,585
100	Allegheny College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,156	$159,490	Grad 72.5% · Net $22,940

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; 158 campuses met every filter and the top 100 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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