Best-Value Colleges in Ohio
35 Ohio 4-year colleges ranked by return on investment - 10-year graduate earnings per dollar of net price - among schools that beat the state median on earnings and graduation rate.
Quick answer
The best-value college in Ohio is The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Cincinnati - a net price of $17,566 against $68,303 in median 10-year earnings, an ROI of 3.9×, with a 60% graduation rate. Every school here turns a modest cost into outsized, above-median earnings.
| # | School | Net price /yr | 10-yr earnings | ROI (earn ÷ price) | Grad rate | In-state tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CCNH The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences Cincinnati, OH | $17,566 | $68,303 | 3.9× | 60% | $17,318 |
| 2 | GSCN Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science Cincinnati, OH | $17,041 | $66,111 | 3.9× | 75% | $15,356 |
| 3 |  Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH | $17,269 | $60,409 | 3.5× | 88% | $13,641 |
| 4 |  Ohio Northern University Ada, OH | $23,969 | $80,928 | 3.4× | 74% | $41,670 |
| 5 |  Ursuline College Pepper Pike, OH | $17,186 | $56,878 | 3.3× | 53% | $39,780 |
| 6 | $19,320 | $63,582 | 3.3× | 52% | $20,800 | |
| 7 |  Kettering College Kettering, OH | $20,896 | $67,492 | 3.2× | 65% | $16,800 |
| 8 | MCCN Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH | $23,987 | $75,103 | 3.1× | 71% | $28,500 |
| 9 |  University of Toledo Toledo, OH | $16,406 | $50,632 | 3.1× | 56% | $13,122 |
| 10 |  Walsh University North Canton, OH | $19,588 | $59,764 | 3.1× | 62% | $37,115 |
| 11 |  Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, OH | $20,196 | $55,624 | 2.8× | 62% | $54,953 |
| 12 |  Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, OH | $19,231 | $51,509 | 2.7× | 55% | $39,650 |
| 13 |  Otterbein University Westerville, OH | $20,189 | $53,313 | 2.6× | 69% | $36,598 |
| 14 |  Capital University Columbus, OH | $20,550 | $54,143 | 2.6× | 66% | $44,304 |
| 15 |  Hiram College Hiram, OH | $20,753 | $54,311 | 2.6× | 59% | $30,720 |
| 16 |  Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH | $20,666 | $52,581 | 2.5× | 66% | $14,582 |
| 17 |  Marietta College Marietta, OH | $22,890 | $57,180 | 2.5× | 58% | $40,842 |
| 18 |  University of Dayton Dayton, OH | $30,366 | $75,537 | 2.5× | 82% | $50,610 |
| 19 |  Cedarville University Cedarville, OH | $23,335 | $55,443 | 2.4× | 74% | $38,258 |
| 20 |  Wittenberg University Springfield, OH | $23,310 | $54,947 | 2.4× | 54% | $47,064 |
| 21 |  University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH | $21,862 | $50,968 | 2.3× | 54% | $14,625 |
| 22 |  John Carroll University University Heights, OH | $27,167 | $62,860 | 2.3× | 76% | $51,960 |
| 23 |  The College of Wooster Wooster, OH | $26,433 | $59,629 | 2.3× | 74% | $64,210 |
| 24 |  Ashland University Ashland, OH | $23,678 | $52,928 | 2.2× | 61% | $33,220 |
| 25 |  University of Mount Union Alliance, OH | $23,956 | $53,217 | 2.2× | 65% | $37,700 |
| 26 |  University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH | $24,917 | $54,810 | 2.2× | 72% | $14,394 |
| 27 |  The University of Findlay Findlay, OH | $26,406 | $56,996 | 2.2× | 63% | $41,400 |
| 28 |  Kenyon College Gambier, OH | $33,279 | $71,830 | 2.2× | 87% | $72,220 |
| 29 |  Galen College of Nursing-Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH | $28,591 | $61,480 | 2.2× | 55% | $18,740 |
| 30 |  Xavier University Cincinnati, OH | $31,905 | $64,873 | 2.0× | 71% | $52,680 |
| 31 |  Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH | $27,222 | $54,122 | 2.0× | 69% | $41,386 |
| 32 |  Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH | $44,622 | $87,989 | 2.0× | 87% | $69,270 |
| 33 |  Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH | $29,447 | $55,076 | 1.9× | 82% | $18,520 |
| 34 |  Denison University Granville, OH | $40,163 | $67,753 | 1.7× | 80% | $71,000 |
| 35 |  Oberlin College Oberlin, OH | $41,987 | $58,343 | 1.4× | 79% | $69,482 |
How we ranked this
From every Ohio four-year college that publishes net price, 10-year median earnings, and graduation rate, we keep only those that beat the state median on earnings and that graduate at least 45% of students (or the state median grad rate, whichever is higher). We then rank by ROI = 10-year median earnings ÷ average annual net price - the dollars of graduate earnings each dollar of net price buys - highest first. This rewards genuine return on investment rather than the cheapest sticker price, and the 4-year + outcome guards keep out the low-completion and 2-year outliers a pure price sort surfaces. Colleges missing any of the three figures are excluded, never estimated. Minimum 5 qualifying schools required to publish a page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best-value college in Ohio?+
The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Cincinnati has the highest return on investment among Ohio 4-year colleges that beat the state median on outcomes: a net price of $17,566 against $68,303 in 10-year median earnings - an ROI of 3.9× (dollars earned per dollar of annual net price) - with a 60% graduation rate.
What does "net price" mean?+
Net price is the average annual cost students actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the full cost of attendance - a far better affordability measure than sticker tuition. We use the College Scorecard average net price.
How is "best value" defined here?+
Value means return on investment, not cheapness. Among Ohio four-year colleges that beat the state median on BOTH 10-year graduate earnings and graduation rate (and graduate at least 45% of students), we rank by the ROI ratio = 10-year median earnings ÷ average annual net price. The school that turns each tuition dollar into the most graduate earnings ranks first.
Is the cheapest college always the best value?+
No. A rock-bottom price that leads to low earnings is worse value than a moderate price that leads to high earnings. That is exactly why we rank by the earnings-to-net-price ratio rather than by lowest price, and require above-median earnings and graduation rates first. Colleges missing net price, earnings, or graduation data are excluded rather than estimated.
Keep exploring
Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard · IPEDS. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.