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Best-Value Colleges in Ohio

34 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 Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Columbus — a net price of $12,939 against $75,103 in median 10-year earnings, an ROI of 5.8×, with a 71% 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	Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH	$12,939	$75,103	5.8×	71%	$13,890
2	Kettering College Kettering, OH	$15,156	$67,492	4.5×	65%	$15,672
3	The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences Cincinnati, OH	$19,462	$68,303	3.5×	60%	$16,394
4	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	$18,292	$60,409	3.3×	88%	$12,859
5	Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, OH	$16,135	$51,509	3.2×	55%	$36,650
6	Ursuline College Pepper Pike, OH	$18,027	$56,878	3.2×	53%	$37,860
7	Ohio Northern University Ada, OH	$25,727	$80,928	3.1×	74%	$37,800
8	Marietta College Marietta, OH	$18,372	$57,180	3.1×	58%	$38,974
9	Walsh University North Canton, OH	$20,004	$59,764	3.0×	62%	$34,595
10	Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science Cincinnati, OH	$22,626	$66,111	2.9×	75%	$15,470
11	Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences Canton, OH	$21,873	$63,582	2.9×	52%	$19,854
12	Wittenberg University Springfield, OH	$19,470	$54,947	2.8×	54%	$44,602
13	Hiram College Hiram, OH	$20,088	$54,311	2.7×	59%	$26,265
14	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH	$20,413	$52,581	2.6×	66%	$13,746
15	Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, OH	$21,619	$55,624	2.6×	62%	$52,357
16	University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH	$20,609	$50,968	2.5×	54%	$12,930
17	Kenyon College Gambier, OH	$29,383	$71,830	2.4×	87%	$69,330
18	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	$31,236	$75,537	2.4×	82%	$47,600
19	Otterbein University Westerville, OH	$22,140	$53,313	2.4×	69%	$34,899
20	Ashland University Ashland, OH	$21,994	$52,928	2.4×	61%	$28,910
21	The University of Findlay Findlay, OH	$23,731	$56,996	2.4×	63%	$39,646
22	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH	$23,156	$54,810	2.4×	72%	$13,570
23	University of Mount Union Alliance, OH	$22,539	$53,217	2.4×	65%	$35,400
24	The College of Wooster Wooster, OH	$25,766	$59,629	2.3×	74%	$59,550
25	Capital University Columbus, OH	$23,585	$54,143	2.3×	66%	$41,788
26	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	$38,909	$87,989	2.3×	87%	$64,671
27	Cedarville University Cedarville, OH	$25,022	$55,443	2.2×	74%	$36,078
28	John Carroll University University Heights, OH	$28,617	$62,860	2.2×	76%	$49,100
29	Galen College of Nursing-Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	$29,150	$61,480	2.1×	55%	$16,400
30	Xavier University Cincinnati, OH	$32,342	$64,873	2.0×	71%	$48,125
31	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	$27,662	$55,076	2.0×	82%	$17,809
32	Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH	$27,654	$54,122	2.0×	69%	$37,938
33	Denison University Granville, OH	$38,111	$67,753	1.8×	80%	$64,000
34	Oberlin College Oberlin, OH	$39,184	$58,343	1.5×	79%	$64,646

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?+

Mount Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus has the highest return on investment among Ohio 4-year colleges that beat the state median on outcomes: a net price of $12,939 against $75,103 in 10-year median earnings — an ROI of 5.8× (dollars earned per dollar of annual net price) — with a 71% 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.

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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. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.