Degree Dividend
Sourced from federal dataEvery figure datedNo rankings for sale

Best colleges in Alabama, ranked by ROI

All 54 Alabama institutions we profile, ranked by payback years — total net cost divided by earnings above the $48,360 high-school baseline. Federal net price and earnings; payback is our math. (Scorecard, 2026.)

$14,569
Median net price / yr
Scorecard, 2026
$36,753
Median earnings, 10 yrs
Scorecard, 2026
13 yrs
Median payback
Our math, 2026
54
Colleges ranked
degreedividend.com
Alabama colleges by payback (best first)
#CollegeNet price/yrEarnings 10yPayback
1Marion Military Institute$8,627$59,6441.5 yrs
2Columbia Southern University$14,580$63,5343.8 yrs
3University of Alabama in Huntsville$18,796$61,7675.6 yrs
4Auburn University$24,323$65,3375.7 yrs
5The University of Alabama$22,420$59,2218.3 yrs
6University of Alabama at Birmingham$18,749$54,50112.2 yrs
7Samford University$32,622$58,46912.9 yrs
8United States Sports University$24,076$55,25714 yrs
9Spring Hill College$20,449$51,50026 yrs
10University of South Alabama$17,648$49,37969.3 yrs
11Huntingdon College$22,566$49,60172.7 yrs
12Tuskegee University$35,013$49,641109.3 yrs
13University of North Alabama$12,170$45,415no payback
14Jacksonville State University$14,279$45,235no payback
15Auburn University at Montgomery$13,224$44,391no payback
16University of West Alabama$12,684$44,232no payback
17Enterprise State Community College$12,609$42,572no payback
18Jefferson State Community College$9,086$40,719no payback
19University of Montevallo$17,683$42,957no payback
20University of Mobile$22,382$43,611no payback
21Faulkner University$22,085$43,457no payback
22Troy University$16,527$42,062no payback
23Oakwood University$25,669$42,488no payback
24George C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville$13,170$39,842no payback
25Alabama A & M University$17,621$40,628no payback
26John C Calhoun State Community College$7,660$38,192no payback
27Chattahoochee Valley Community College$4,244$36,438no payback
28Southern Union State Community College$6,142$36,597no payback
29Snead State Community College$3,249$35,735no payback
30Herzing University-Birmingham$19,651$36,909no payback
31Northeast Alabama Community College$2,756$34,913no payback
32Northwest Shoals Community College$2,838$33,828no payback
33Bevill State Community College$5,937$34,107no payback
34Stillman College$15,258$35,421no payback
35Gadsden State Community College$3,515$32,937no payback
36Coastal Alabama Community College$13,644$34,894no payback
37Shelton State Community College$14,557$35,014no payback
38Lurleen B Wallace Community College$2,792$32,307no payback
39George C Wallace Community College-Dothan$1,170$31,399no payback
40Lawson State Community College$6,275$31,701no payback
41H Councill Trenholm State Community College$8,325$32,183no payback
42Alabama State University$20,435$34,502no payback
43Central Alabama Community College$15,996$33,506no payback
44Miles College$14,271$32,627no payback
45George C Wallace State Community College-Selma$9,272$31,598no payback
46Talladega College$15,560$32,229no payback
47South University-Montgomery$27,807$34,421no payback
48Bishop State Community College$5,397$29,916no payback
49Reid State Technical College$1,739$28,982no payback
50Fortis Institute-Birmingham$25,946$32,886no payback
51J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College$6,005$28,281no payback
52Remington College-Mobile Campus$26,120$31,349no payback
53Fortis College$19,074$26,652no payback
54Fortis College-Montgomery$21,006$26,652no payback

College Scorecard (2026), institution-level · ranking and payback are our math. Payback uses institution-wide earnings; a specific major can rank very differently.