West Virginia — Valley College – Martinsburg
Average net price per year: $25,183
Median earnings six years after graduation: $22,100
Valley College Martinsburg is the last of the small schools on our list. West Virginia doesn’t have an abundance of options for higher education, but don’t let that force you into choosing this one. The net price of tuition is almost $10,000 higher than the national average, but the median salary six years after graduation is barely enough to live on. The average student debt after four years is also extremely high at $41,464, which helps explain why a staggering 22.5% of students end up defaulting on their loans. “I wasn’t very fond of the fact that they didn’t tell me I wouldn’t be able to get a job after I graduated,” a graduate student complains online. “I have to take an exam to be ‘certified,’ then take another to be credible to employers. But the overall experience was good.”