Campbellsville University – Campbellsville, Kentucky (Return On Investment: -$76,800)
Situated right next to the manmade reservoir Green River Lake and the huge state park which surrounds it, Campbellsville University has a great advantage when it comes to proximity to the great outdoors. This Baptist-affiliated university offers a School of Education, a School of Art, and a School of Music. The campus even has one satellite center in President Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. As appealing as everything may sound, there are some serious financial drawbacks that need to be considered, like the fact that Campbellsville’s students spend roughly $143,000 on tuition but nearly half of that is drained out with the average return on investment of -$76,800, according to reports.
The University of Montana Western – Dillon, Montana (Return On Investment: -$71,400)
Sure, being able to go out skiing, hiking, or snowmobiling after classes sounds like an amazing idea. The Dillon campus of the University of Montana is a small school and has only about 1,500 undergraduates enrolled, but getting an education in the former gold rush town is not what it seems. There is definitely an advantage in a tight student population because you have better access to professors, but in the longterm, it may not be such a great idea to study at the University of Montana Western since its return on investment is one of the lowest in the nation. For having coughed up about $109,000 in college tuition (out of state), only 46% of students graduate and see a -$71,400 return for their investment.