College ranking

Top colleges in AL by 10-year ROI

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in AL with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Columbia Southern University leads this list at $225,357 (10 Yr. ROI).

Leaders: top 3

Columbia Southern University

10 Yr. ROI $225,357

AL · Private for-profit

University of Alabama in Huntsville

10 Yr. ROI $205,628

AL · Public

Auburn University

10 Yr. ROI $181,146

AL · Public

Top 25 Top colleges in AL by 10-year ROI

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	10 Yr. ROI	Also see
1	Columbia Southern University	AL	Private for-profit	12,176	$225,357	Grad 33.3% · Net $14,580
2	University of Alabama in Huntsville	AL	Public	6,591	$205,628	Grad 64.3% · Net $18,796
3	Auburn University	AL	Public	26,816	$181,146	Grad 82.0% · Net $24,323
4	The University of Alabama	AL	Public	33,227	$167,105	Grad 73.4% · Net $22,420
5	University of Alabama at Birmingham	AL	Public	11,635	$160,726	Grad 64.2% · Net $18,749
6	University of North Alabama	AL	Public	5,811	$151,981	Grad 54.9% · Net $12,170
7	Auburn University at Montgomery	AL	Public	2,542	$143,108	Grad 32.6% · Net $13,224
8	Jacksonville State University	AL	Public	7,036	$142,986	Grad 54.7% · Net $14,279
9	Spring Hill College	AL	Private nonprofit	782	$138,556	Grad 52.1% · Net $20,449
10	University of West Alabama	AL	Public	2,974	$137,755	Grad 34.7% · Net $12,684
11	University of South Alabama	AL	Public	8,879	$137,465	Grad 52.7% · Net $17,648
12	United States Sports University	AL	Private nonprofit	228	$124,781	Grad — · Net $24,076
13	Troy University	AL	Public	9,805	$123,374	Grad 50.3% · Net $16,527
14	Huntingdon College	AL	Private nonprofit	879	$117,856	Grad 48.0% · Net $22,566
15	Samford University	AL	Private nonprofit	4,206	$108,656	Grad 77.0% · Net $32,622
16	University of Montevallo	AL	Public	2,151	$107,396	Grad 54.1% · Net $17,683
17	Faulkner University	AL	Private nonprofit	1,549	$95,152	Grad 37.4% · Net $22,085
18	University of Mobile	AL	Private nonprofit	1,307	$92,997	Grad 56.9% · Net $22,382
19	Stillman College	AL	Private nonprofit	706	$87,308	Grad 25.0% · Net $15,258
20	Alabama A & M University	AL	Public	6,124	$78,598	Grad 24.0% · Net $17,621
21	Miles College	AL	Private nonprofit	1,155	$76,650	Grad 15.8% · Net $14,271
22	Talladega College	AL	Private nonprofit	701	$58,529	Grad 30.9% · Net $15,560
23	Alabama State University	AL	Public	3,477	$55,798	Grad 30.3% · Net $20,435
24	Oakwood University	AL	Private nonprofit	1,153	$54,024	Grad 44.6% · Net $25,669
25	Tuskegee University	AL	Private nonprofit	2,630	$46,516	Grad 55.0% · Net $35,013

Method notes

Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to IPEDS 2023 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
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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