Brewton-Parker College – Mount Vernon, Georgia (Return on Investment: -$92,200)
It might seem like Brewton-Parker College located in Mount Vernon, Georgia is the perfect option for students who want to attend college in a small and quiet town. After all, the entire population of the town is only around 2,451 people, and nearly half of those people – around 1,119 – are Brewton-Parker students. However, it seems that a small payoff in the future comes with this small town education. For four years of study at Brewton-Parker College, students pay $113,000 on average. 20 years later, the estimated net return on investment is -$92,200. If you think that math isn’t all that great, you should also know that Brewton-Parker’s graduation rate is a meager 17%.
Shaw University – Raleigh, North Carolina (Return On Investment: -$93,600)
Having opened in 1865, Shaw University is the oldest historically black university in the American South. For that reason, some people lovingly call Shaw the “mother of African-American colleges” but there are times when even a mother’s love comes with a price. For the students of Shaw University, that price is an average tuition of approimately $118,000 over four years but sadly, all that love may not even pay off in the end. PayScale found that after 20 years, the return on investment is about -$93,600 on average. You don’t need a college degree to figure out that those are not so great numbers for Shaw University graduates.