Best Public Universities in the South

Best Public Universities in the South, ranked by median 10-year earnings. Region: Census South region. Included states / district: DE DC FL GA MD NC SC VA WV AL KY MS TN AR LA OK TX. Median earnings of federally aided former students who are working and not enrolled, 10 years after entry; includes students who did not graduate. “Best” on this page means highest reported earnings, not an overall quality score. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 202 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, Georgia14%1480$12k$103k94%18,785222 mi 2Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterLubbock, Texas———$92k—1,482457 mi 3University of Virginia-Main CampusCharlottesville, Virginia17%1480$22k$87k96%17,59767 mi 4University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park, Maryland45%1473$16k$83k89%30,7609 mi 5Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg, Virginia55%1364$25k$82k86%30,923173 mi 6Virginia Military InstituteLexington, Virginia71%1244$17k$77k76%1,527120 mi 7George Mason UniversityFairfax, Virginia87%1274$18k$76k68%27,75212 mi 8The University of Texas at AustinAustin, Texas27%1395$20k$75k89%42,855126 mi 9University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesLittle Rock, Arkansas———$74k—1,571325 mi 10William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia34%1473$19k$73k89%7,0553 mi 11University of DelawareNewark, Delaware71%1292$18k$73k81%19,0718 mi 12University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina15%1439$12k$72k91%20,752115 mi 13Texas A&M University-College StationCollege Station, Texas57%1280$21k$72k84%59,61597 mi 14Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina23%1208$21k$72k75%2,705< 1 mi 15University of FloridaGainesville, Florida24%1403$7k$72k91%35,62942 mi 16Clemson UniversityClemson, South Carolina38%1353$22k$72k87%23,300187 mi 17University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyBaltimore, Maryland72%1323$16k$70k70%10,7015 mi 18James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia72%1256$23k$70k80%20,88882 mi 19North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina42%1376$17k$69k85%27,37193 mi 20University of GeorgiaAthens, Georgia38%1397$14k$69k90%32,137175 mi 21The University of Texas at DallasRichardson, Texas65%1286$18k$68k76%21,751245 mi 22Auburn UniversityAuburn, Alabama46%1345$24k$65k82%26,816151 mi 23University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, Maryland——$22k$65k33%49,66410 mi 24Towson UniversityTowson, Maryland82%1095$17k$64k69%16,1369 mi 25The University of Texas at ArlingtonArlington, Texas80%1124$14k$63k54%32,294239 mi 26University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusNorman, Oklahoma77%1246$15k$63k75%22,734402 mi 27University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences CenterOklahoma City, Oklahoma———$63k—1,214421 mi 28Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, Texas73%1190$19k$62k69%32,394456 mi 29University of HoustonHouston, Texas74%1250$14k$62k65%38,38017 mi 30University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia, South Carolina60%1297$23k$62k79%29,820101 mi 31University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, Alabama69%1319$19k$62k64%6,591285 mi 32Florida State UniversityTallahassee, Florida24%1361$11k$62k86%32,21224 mi 33Salisbury UniversitySalisbury, Maryland87%1252$18k$62k68%6,05713 mi 34University of BaltimoreBaltimore, Maryland79%940$14k$61k38%1,1333 mi 35Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeBaton Rouge, Louisiana73%1285$19k$61k69%30,59447 mi 36University of Mary WashingtonFredericksburg, Virginia80%1272$21k$61k66%3,5668 mi 37Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News, Virginia86%1180$23k$61k72%4,3651 mi 38Florida International UniversityMiami, Florida55%1163$9k$60k74%39,5088 mi 39The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleKnoxville, Tennessee42%1311$19k$60k74%30,418294 mi 40St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary's City, Maryland69%1261$18k$60k70%1,603< 1 mi 41The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama77%1285$22k$59k73%33,227173 mi 42University of KentuckyLexington, Kentucky93%1215$19k$59k71%24,763249 mi 43University of Houston-Clear LakeHouston, Texas91%1060$16k$59k52%6,0785 mi 44University of Central FloridaOrlando, Florida40%1269$10k$58k78%59,14623 mi 45University of ArkansasFayetteville, Arkansas74%1169$18k$58k71%28,677421 mi 46Georgia College & State UniversityMilledgeville, Georgia78%1163$21k$58k64%5,947143 mi 47Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, Virginia93%1137$23k$58k63%20,75318 mi 48University of South FloridaTampa, Florida43%1227$10k$58k77%37,2079 mi 49Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, Georgia69%1113$15k$58k52%41,254239 mi 50Oklahoma State University-Main CampusStillwater, Oklahoma75%1150$17k$57k68%21,773456 mi 51University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina80%1231$15k$57k69%24,453153 mi 52The University of Texas at San AntonioSan Antonio, Texas87%1105$11k$57k53%30,580132 mi 53The University of Texas at TylerTyler, Texas94%1114$13k$57k54%7,440177 mi 54University of North TexasDenton, Texas72%1109$16k$57k61%34,341269 mi 55Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, Texas89%1103$17k$57k55%36,177112 mi 56Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida66%1127$9k$57k63%23,7572 mi 57Texas Woman's UniversityDenton, Texas96%—$12k$57k49%8,767270 mi 58College of CharlestonCharleston, South Carolina60%1247$19k$56k66%10,558< 1 mi 59University of North FloridaJacksonville, Florida53%1153$10k$56k69%13,3597 mi 60The University of Texas Permian BasinOdessa, Texas95%1033$13k$56k40%3,911400 mi 61West Virginia UniversityMorgantown, West Virginia89%1122$16k$56k65%17,385159 mi 62Midwestern State UniversityWichita Falls, Texas94%—$12k$56k43%4,087350 mi 63Frostburg State UniversityFrostburg, Maryland89%—$17k$55k50%2,909112 mi 64East Carolina UniversityGreenville, North Carolina89%1180$16k$55k63%19,89618 mi 65University of North Carolina WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina64%1287$20k$55k71%14,9223 mi 66Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, Virginia90%1197$15k$55k46%17,5141 mi 67Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFort Myers, Florida63%1114$13k$55k57%13,8745 mi 68Bowie State UniversityBowie, Maryland72%—$19k$55k38%5,04310 mi 69University of Alabama at BirminghamBirmingham, Alabama88%1258$19k$55k64%11,635201 mi 70Texas A&M University-VictoriaVictoria, Texas96%—$8k$54k26%2,51321 mi 71Texas A&M University-San AntonioSan Antonio, Texas93%955$11k$54k40%6,599114 mi 72Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsville, Texas90%1041$16k$54k55%17,74373 mi 73University of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky79%1150$18k$54k61%14,727248 mi 74Radford UniversityRadford, Virginia90%1060$15k$54k49%6,038180 mi 75University of Houston-DowntownHouston, Texas90%1029$11k$54k33%12,55518 mi 76Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro, Georgia88%1053$15k$53k55%21,79053 mi 77Tarleton State UniversityStephenville, Texas90%1075$21k$53k48%12,673253 mi 78Longwood UniversityFarmville, Virginia90%1120$19k$52k61%3,01562 mi 79Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston, Louisiana86%1191$12k$52k64%8,312188 mi 80Texas A & M University-Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi, Texas89%1086$15k$52k40%8,0341 mi 81Appalachian State UniversityBoone, North Carolina90%1214$17k$52k75%19,444236 mi 82Mississippi State UniversityMississippi State, Mississippi78%1219$18k$52k67%18,397193 mi 83Texas A&M University-KingsvilleKingsville, Texas91%1050$12k$51k42%4,7488 mi 84The University of Tennessee-ChattanoogaChattanooga, Tennessee81%1147$14k$51k50%10,074308 mi 85University of MississippiUniversity, Mississippi97%1184$13k$51k72%21,473266 mi 86The University of Texas at El PasoEl Paso, Texas100%962$9k$51k50%21,005361 mi 87West Texas A & M UniversityCanyon, Texas99%1050$19k$51k55%6,917531 mi 88Morgan State UniversityBaltimore, Maryland82%971$15k$51k41%9,0195 mi 89East Texas A&M UniversityCommerce, Texas92%1076$12k$50k43%9,912246 mi 90Athens State UniversityAthens, Alabama———$50k—2,446288 mi 91Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights, Kentucky68%1087$8k$50k52%8,246184 mi 92University of North GeorgiaDahlonega, Georgia68%1106$10k$50k37%16,146227 mi 93Angelo State UniversitySan Angelo, Texas83%1054$15k$50k44%5,643295 mi 94Lamar UniversityBeaumont, Texas86%1061$9k$50k37%8,15014 mi 95Stephen F Austin State UniversityNacogdoches, Texas94%1066$14k$50k53%8,728122 mi 96The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburg, Texas94%985$5k$50k51%28,66645 mi

US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. Missing or suppressed values are excluded. A ranking is a comparison of the named measure, not an overall quality score.