Life

These Colleges Have The Worst Return on Investment

by Aria Bendix

November 24, 2014

Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images

With the cost of college tuition having catapulted in recent years, there's now more pressure than ever to make sure that college is worth your time and money. Thankfully, The Daily Beast is here to help by presenting us with an article on the 25 Colleges With the Worst Return on Your Investment. Since 1978, the cost of college tuition has risen over 1,225 percent, making it increasingly difficult for parents and students to afford four-year universities. Combine this with a 8.5 percent unemployment rate among college graduates ages 21 to 24, and it has become even more imperative to select colleges that will offer job security and financial stability down the road.

In order to determine which university degrees provided the least earning potential, The Daily Beast looked at starting and mid-career salaries for a variety of schools throughout the U.S.. Since they were mainly concerned with the value of a diploma, their analysis only included universities with at least a 75 percent graduation rate. The analysis also factored in the average cost of a degree for each school.

Before reading the results and discounting these schools from consideration, however, it's necessary to realize that a degree is much more than a name on a piece of paper. It represents an entire experience that will occupy four precious years of your life. As such, it's important to consider your passions and career interests before selecting a school based on employment statistics alone. While a certain university may not pass The Daily Beast's general test for a good return on an investment, it may offer a specialized program or set of classes that will serve you well on an individual basis.

Still, in light of the current financial climate, one must consider all aspects of a college, and tuition is a major part of that. So in an effort to keep you from breaking the bank, here are five of the colleges with the worst return on your investment, complete with graduation rates, tuition costs, and future salary potentials. Head over to Daily Beast to see the other 20.