Top colleges in Kansas by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Kansas with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. University of Kansas leads this list at $195,436 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
University of Kansas
10 Yr. ROI
$195,436
Wichita State University
10 Yr. ROI
$173,038
Fort Hays State University
10 Yr. ROI
$170,941
Top 22 Top colleges in Kansas by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Kansas | KS | Public | 21,217 | $195,436 | Grad 68.8% · Net $18,059 |
| 2 | Wichita State University | KS | Public | 10,780 | $173,038 | Grad 51.0% · Net $13,194 |
| 3 | Fort Hays State University | KS | Public | 9,733 | $170,941 | Grad 47.7% · Net $12,569 |
| 4 | Baker University | KS | Private nonprofit | 1,100 | $169,862 | Grad 57.8% · Net $25,301 |
| 5 | University of Saint Mary | KS | Private nonprofit | 925 | $169,168 | Grad 47.8% · Net $22,519 |
| 6 | Kansas State University | KS | Public | 15,142 | $168,102 | Grad 71.1% · Net $19,406 |
| 7 | Pittsburg State University | KS | Public | 4,210 | $156,796 | Grad 56.6% · Net $15,784 |
| 8 | Washburn University | KS | Public | 4,562 | $154,256 | Grad 53.0% · Net $15,280 |
| 9 | Newman University | KS | Private nonprofit | 851 | $153,817 | Grad 52.8% · Net $19,971 |
| 10 | Tabor College | KS | Private nonprofit | 494 | $149,840 | Grad 33.7% · Net $20,205 |
| 11 | Central Christian College of Kansas | KS | Private nonprofit | 380 | $148,520 | Grad 27.0% · Net $11,404 |
| 12 | MidAmerica Nazarene University | KS | Private nonprofit | 983 | $143,274 | Grad 53.6% · Net $32,165 |
| 13 | Emporia State University | KS | Public | 2,239 | $142,040 | Grad 56.1% · Net $16,261 |
| 14 | Kansas Wesleyan University | KS | Private nonprofit | 956 | $132,784 | Grad 48.6% · Net $22,671 |
| 15 | Ottawa University-Ottawa | KS | Private nonprofit | 870 | $123,400 | Grad 27.9% · Net $27,963 |
| 16 | Benedictine College | KS | Private nonprofit | 2,272 | $108,622 | Grad 61.6% · Net $27,891 |
| 17 | Southwestern College | KS | Private nonprofit | 924 | $108,336 | Grad 35.7% · Net $29,824 |
| 18 | Sterling College | KS | Private nonprofit | 538 | $103,049 | Grad 41.3% · Net $22,371 |
| 19 | Friends University | KS | Private nonprofit | 1,048 | $97,272 | Grad 43.4% · Net $27,715 |
| 20 | McPherson College | KS | Private nonprofit | 872 | $93,506 | Grad 33.9% · Net $26,441 |
| 21 | Bethany College | KS | Private nonprofit | 569 | $90,876 | Grad 35.7% · Net $27,686 |
| 22 | Bethel College-North Newton | KS | Private nonprofit | 504 | $71,974 | Grad 41.1% · Net $32,917 |
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; all 22 qualifying campuses are shown.
- 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.