The UCs are a better investment than most U.S. colleges. See data on every school

Californians are fortunate to have access to some of the best public universities in the country when it comes to the financial return on investment.

According to an analysis by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, attending a University of California and California State University campus yields a higher short-term return on investment than a non-California public university by $78,000 and $57,000, respectively.

The researchers used data on attendance costs and post-college earnings to estimate the monetary return of attending each higher education institution in the country. Specifically, they estimated the median total income 10 years after college enrollment and subtracted the average attendance cost — which includes tuition, fees and living expenses and accounts for federal financial aid. The tuition data reflects only in-state tuition for public universities, though in reality costs can differ by thousands of dollars between in-state and out-of-state students.

Overall, the top ROI colleges in California are the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Harvey Mudd College and Claremont McKenna College — all private universities.

But apart from these four top-tier universities, the data shows most private institutions offer lower short-term returns on investment than UCs or CSUs because of the higher costs associated with private schools. A national analysis of this data found a similar outcome — besides the Ivy Leagues and elite institutions, public universities are a better investment.

When it comes to the UCs and CSUs, not only do they provide higher returns compared with private universities, but their ROIs also exceed those of public universities in most other states. The 10-year return is $196,000 at the median UC and $175,000 at a CSU, compared with $118,000 at a public university outside California.

Three California schools are among the top 20 public universities in ROI nationwide: CSU Maritime Academy, which ranks fourth among all public universities; UC Berkeley, ranking eighth; and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at No. 15.

According to Martin Van Der Werf, the director of editorial and education policy at the Center on Education and the Workforce, universities offering a narrow set of degrees in fields that lead to lucrative careers, such as institutes of technology, undergraduate marine academies or pharmacy programs, do particularly well on ROI.

Most other UCs and CSUs have 10-year returns that rank in the top 10% of public universities. For example, UCLA has a 10-year ROI of $211,000, placing it 28th among more than 540 U.S. public universities and No. 51 out of almost 1,600 public and private colleges nationwide.

Even less prestigious UCs and CSUs have returns exceeding those at the top public universities in other states.

Let’s compare, for example, San Jose State University — a CSU campus admitting two-thirds of applicants — with the University of Texas at Austin — the most competitive UT campus, with an acceptance rate of 32%. At 10 years after college enrollment, San Jose State students have a median ROI that is $17,000 greater than that of UT Austin students. This gap narrows over time — at 40 years after enrollment, the difference is $7,000 — but San Jose State’s ROI remains higher.

California colleges typically rank well in ROI on a national level, but this may partly be due to California’s high wages compared with most other states, Van Der Werf said. Because most students stay in-state after graduating, the better ROI at California colleges may reflect the state’s overall high wages.

The makeup of majors also impacts a school’s ROI because post-college earnings often correlate with undergraduate majors. For instance, at the UCs, the median earnings of a computer science graduate is $127,000 five years after graduating, while the median for an arts major is about $52,000.

Colleges with students pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering or math, as well as those from which a large share of students obtain graduate degrees, tend to have high ROIs, Van Der Werf said.