20 Colleges with the Worst Return on Investment (photos)

The overwhelming majority of soon-to-be college students indicate that they head to college to guarantee higher earnings in the future. To find out which schools are worst at offering a well-paid future for relatively less tuition, The Daily Beast first limited the universe of schools to only those that graduate at least 75% of students within six years. Our thinking: a degree is not valuable if you don’t get it, and schools that don’t have a good track record of graduating students aren’t offering a reliable return on a student’s investment regardless of cost or potential future earnings. We then calculated a net price based on the percent of students who graduate within four, five, and six years to create an average net price for all students who graduated within six years; this figure was worth a third of the final ranking. The last two-thirds of the ranking was devoted to starting and mid-career salary of graduates, according to Payscale.com.

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Oberlin, Ohio

6-Year Grad Rate: 88%

Average Net Price: $34,797

Average Starting Salary: $38,800

Average Midcareer Salary: $83,900

Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer /Landov

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Notre Dame, Indiana

6-Year Grad Rate: 78.8%

Average Net Price: $26,391

Average Starting Salary: $41,100

Average Midcareer Salary: $62,200

*Correction: This slide previously incorrectly showed an image of Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. The image has been updated to reflect the correct college. We apologize for the error.

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Poughkeepsie, New York

6-Year Grad Rate: 80.3%

Average Net Price: $31,073

Average Starting Salary: $43,000

Average Midcareer Salary: $71,700

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Kalamazoo, Michigan

6-Year Grad Rate: 79.6%

Average Net Price: $26,347

Average Starting Salary: $36,300

Average Midcareer Salary: $75,000

Lumigraphics/Getty

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Upland, Indiana

6-Year Grad Rate: 80.4%

Average Net Price: $24,392

Average Starting Salary: $38,000

Average Midcareer Salary: $70,500

AJ Mast/AP

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Bloomington, Illinois

6-Year Grad Rate: 82.5%

Average Net Price: $27,134

Average Starting Salary: $39,400

Average Midcareer Salary: $74,400

Nick Burchell

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Elon, North Carolina

6-Year Grad Rate: 82.1%

Average Net Price: $28,208

Average Starting Salary: $43,200

Average Midcareer Salary: $69,100

Sara D. Davis/AP

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Wooster, Ohio

6-Year Grad Rate: 75%

Average Net Price: $23,668

Average Starting Salary: $41,800

Average Midcareer Salary: $64,000

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South Hadley, Massachusetts

6-Year Grad Rate: 84.9%

Average Net Price: $23,910

Average Starting Salary: $39,400

Average Midcareer Salary: $69,400

Dave Roback/The Republican /Landov

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Norton, Massachusetts

6-Year Grad Rate: 77.1%

Average Net Price: 27,451

Average Starting Salary: $37,300

Average Midcareer Salary: $82,500

Stephan Savoia/AP

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Collegeville, Pennsylvania

6-Year Grad Rate: 80%

Average Net Price: $26,859

Average Starting Salary: $40,400

Average Midcareer Salary: $74,600

Matt Rourke/AP

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Galesburg, Illinois

6-Year Grad Rate: 78.5%

Average Net Price: $22,201

Average Starting Salary: $35,000

Average Midcareer Salary: $76,000

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Spokane, Washington

6-Year Grad Rate: 78.5%

Average Net Price: $22,201

Average Starting Salary: $35,000

Average Midcareer Salary: $76,000

Gregory Olsen

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Meadville, Pennsylvania

6-Year Grad Rate: 80.4%

Average Net Price: $25,140

Average Starting Salary: $39,400

Average Midcareer Salary: $74,400

PRNewsFoto/Siemens Building Technologies, Inc./AP

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Northfield, Minnesota

6-Year Grad Rate: 84.9%

Average Net Price: $26,276

Average Starting Salary: $39,200

Average Midcareer Salary: $77,500

PRNewsFoto/Twin Cities Public Television/AP

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Boston, Massachusetts

6-Year Grad Rate: 81.3%

Average Net Price: $28,567

Average Starting Salary: $42,100

Average Midcareer Salary: $77,100

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Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

6-Year Grad Rate: 76.4%

Average Net Price: $26,107

Average Starting Salary: $42,600

Average Midcareer Salary: $71,000

Matt Smith/Express-Times, via Landov

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Washington, District of Columbia

6-Year Grad Rate: 77.2%

Average Net Price: $31,447

Average Starting Salary: $43,500

Average Midcareer Salary: $81,400

Jeff Watts/Courtesy of American University

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Beloit, Wisconsin

6-Year Grad Rate: 75.8%

Average Net Price: $23,421

Average Starting Salary: $38,900

Average Midcareer Salary: $75,000

20 Colleges with the Worst Return on Investment (photos)

Diplomas from these schools are costly considering the relatively low earning potential they come with.

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