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 $212,706 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
University of Kansas
10 Yr. ROI
$212,706
Wichita State University
10 Yr. ROI
$211,622
Ottawa University-Online
10 Yr. ROI
$209,860
Top 23 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 | $212,706 | Grad 70.3% · Net $20,004 |
| 2 | Wichita State University | KS | Public | 10,780 | $211,622 | Grad 52.4% · Net $10,307 |
| 3 | Ottawa University-Online | KS | Private nonprofit | 259 | $209,860 | Grad — · Net $13,986 |
| 4 | University of Saint Mary | KS | Private nonprofit | 925 | $206,299 | Grad 46.3% · Net $20,881 |
| 5 | Kansas State University | KS | Public | 15,142 | $199,930 | Grad 71.3% · Net $18,210 |
| 6 | Washburn University | KS | Public | 4,562 | $196,228 | Grad 52.0% · Net $11,023 |
| 7 | Baker University | KS | Private nonprofit | 1,100 | $192,346 | Grad 54.5% · Net $25,038 |
| 8 | Pittsburg State University | KS | Public | 4,210 | $184,464 | Grad 48.4% · Net $14,291 |
| 9 | Newman University | KS | Private nonprofit | 851 | $176,350 | Grad 53.3% · Net $17,430 |
| 10 | Fort Hays State University | KS | Public | 9,733 | $173,512 | Grad 52.7% · Net $16,333 |
| 11 | Emporia State University | KS | Public | 2,239 | $169,404 | Grad 57.3% · Net $14,364 |
| 12 | MidAmerica Nazarene University | KS | Private nonprofit | 983 | $166,472 | Grad 42.2% · Net $30,947 |
| 13 | Tabor College | KS | Private nonprofit | 494 | $162,012 | Grad 32.0% · Net $19,034 |
| 14 | Kansas Wesleyan University | KS | Private nonprofit | 956 | $153,888 | Grad 41.8% · Net $22,165 |
| 15 | Central Christian College of Kansas | KS | Private nonprofit | 380 | $152,846 | Grad 31.9% · Net $14,036 |
| 16 | Benedictine College | KS | Private nonprofit | 2,272 | $147,792 | Grad 64.9% · Net $24,687 |
| 17 | Ottawa University-Ottawa | KS | Private nonprofit | 870 | $141,930 | Grad 26.4% · Net $27,572 |
| 18 | Southwestern College | KS | Private nonprofit | 924 | $136,022 | Grad 38.8% · Net $30,086 |
| 19 | Friends University | KS | Private nonprofit | 1,048 | $126,024 | Grad 51.1% · Net $26,384 |
| 20 | Sterling College | KS | Private nonprofit | 538 | $109,348 | Grad 38.9% · Net $24,297 |
| 21 | McPherson College | KS | Private nonprofit | 872 | $106,973 | Grad 43.3% · Net $28,431 |
| 22 | Bethel College-North Newton | KS | Private nonprofit | 504 | $99,980 | Grad 50.3% · Net $31,503 |
| 23 | Bethany College | KS | Private nonprofit | 569 | $95,733 | Grad 31.0% · Net $28,538 |
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 23 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.