Education

These Georgia colleges give you the best bang for your buck

Georgia ranked No. 11 in personal finance website WalletHub's 2016's States with the Best and Worst College Systems ranking.
Georgia ranked No. 11 in personal finance website WalletHub's 2016's States with the Best and Worst College Systems ranking.
By Fiza Pirani
Sept 29, 2016

A good college education can get expensive, but the latest study on Georgia's best value colleges from SmartAsset—a personal finance technology company—may help you narrow down the options.

SmartAsset analysts studied five key factors across state colleges: tuition, student living costs, scholarships and grant offerings, retention rate and starting salary.

Which Georgia college grants the best bang for your buck? It's Georgia Tech.

With an average starting salary of $62,500, average tuition of $10,650 per year and 96 percent retention rate, the Atlanta college scored 88.05 in the study's value index.

Georgia Institute of Technology was also recognized in College Scorecard's 2015 ranking of the colleges with the best return on investment.

At No. 2 on SmartAsset's state ranking is Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta with an average college tuition of $5,732. Average starting salaries for graduates begin at $52,100.

Where applicable, SmartAsset analysts used in-state tuition to determine yearly tuition.

Here are the best value colleges in Georgia, their average tuition and starting salaries, according to SmartAsset:
1. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, Atlanta

Tuition: $10,650

Starting salary: $62,500

2. Southern Polytechnic State University, Marietta

Tuition: $5,732

Starting salary: $52,100

3. University of Georgia, Athens

Tuition: $10,262

Starting salary: $46,600

4. Emory University, Atlanta

Tuition: $44,008

Starting salary: $51,300

5. Georgia State University, Atlanta

Tuition: $8,368

Starting salary: $44,500

6. Georgia Southern University, Statesboro

Tuition: $6,071

Starting salary: $43,900

7. Morehouse College, Atlanta

Tuition: $50,500

Starting salary: $25,468

8. Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville

Tuition: $8,790

Starting salary: $41,100

9. University of West Georgia, Carrollton

Tuition: $5,837

Starting salary: $41,800

10. Clayton State University, Morrow

Tuition: $5,153

Starting salary: $42,000

Learn more about the college index scores and the study's methodology on SmartAsset.com.

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About the Author

Fiza Pirani is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and editor.

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