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Best Human Development & Family Studies Schools by Graduate Salary & ROI (2026)

156 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Human Development & Family Studies, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Human Development & Family Studies graduate earns $33,473/yr across 156 schools.

What do Human Development & Family Studies graduates do? See career paths and salaries →

Why Washington D.C.'s Public University Is #1

The University of the District of Columbia's top rank is a direct result of its location. Graduates are uniquely positioned to feed into the vast ecosystem of federal agencies (like Health & Human Services), national non-profits, and policy organizations headquartered in the nation's capital. This creates a powerful internship-to-career pipeline, leading to higher-than-average earnings ($44,819/yr) for the field. Combined with affordable public tuition, UDC delivers an exceptional 22.3x return on investment by placing its students at the very center of the human services industry.

Public Schools Dominate, Elite Schools Are Absent—Here's Why

You’ll notice the top 20 is almost entirely public universities; famous private schools are nowhere to be seen. This isn't an accident. This field prepares you for careers in social work, community service, and education—sectors often funded by the government. Public universities, particularly regional campuses like the five from Ohio University in the top 10, are designed to train this exact workforce. Their mission aligns with public service, while high-cost private schools with six-figure price tags simply can't provide a sensible return on investment for careers that start around $40,000 per year.

AI Won't Take Your Job, It Will Do Your Paperwork

The 41% AI risk score can be alarming, but it doesn't mean a robot will replace you. For human development, AI is poised to automate the most tedious parts of the job: managing case files, scheduling, and processing intake forms. This is a net positive. It frees you from administrative burnout to focus on the essential, irreplaceable human work: building trust with a client, showing empathy to a family in crisis, and providing hands-on care. In this field, technology will become a tool that enhances your ability to be human, not a threat that replaces you.

The Ohio Strategy: A Blueprint for Regional Value

Five of the top 10 programs are satellite campuses of Ohio University, all with identical scores and outcomes. This isn't a data error; it's a deliberate strategy. Ohio University has created a standardized, high-value program and deployed it across the state via affordable commuter campuses. This model serves students in their own communities and directly feeds graduates into local social service and education jobs. It demonstrates how a public university system can effectively fulfill its mission, providing an accessible and valuable education that strengthens the regional workforce.

Programs Ranked

156

Avg Earnings

$33,473/yr

Avg DW Score

43/100

AI Risk

High

41% task exposure

All Human Development & Family Studies Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	University of the District of Columbia Washington, DC · Public	67 67–68	$44,819/yr	22.3x
2	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA · Public	66 66–66	$41,195/yr	21.0x
3	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	58 58–58	$41,157/yr	11.2x
4	Ohio University-Eastern Campus Saint Clairsville, OH · Public	56 59–57	$38,973/yr	17.8x
5	Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus Chillicothe, OH · Public	56 59–57	$38,973/yr	17.8x
6	Ohio University-Southern Campus Ironton, OH · Public	56 59–57	$38,973/yr	17.8x
7	Ohio University-Lancaster Campus Lancaster, OH · Public	56 59–57	$38,973/yr	17.8x
8	Ohio University-Zanesville Campus Zanesville, OH · Public	56 59–57	$38,973/yr	17.8x
9	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA · Public	55 60–56	$33,906/yr	16.6x
10	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	55 59–56	$35,759/yr	18.6x
11	SUNY College at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY · Public	54 58–54	$35,025/yr	14.3x
12	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	54 55–54	$39,924/yr	14.0x
13	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	54 55–54	$41,243/yr	10.8x
14	Binghamton University Vestal, NY · Public	53 57–54	$36,213/yr	12.3x
15	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	53 56–53	$36,143/yr	13.4x
16	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	53 53–54	$45,140/yr	7.2x
17	National Louis University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	52 51–52	$46,954/yr	7.4x
18	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC · Public	52 55–52	$37,458/yr	14.8x
19	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	52 53–53	$41,717/yr	9.6x
20	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public	52 55–52	$37,123/yr	12.2x
21	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	52 58–53	$33,118/yr	12.4x
22	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	52 54–53	$39,096/yr	9.9x
23	Warner Pacific University Professional and Graduate Studies Portland, OR · Private nonprofit	52 51–52	$45,523/yr	—
24	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	51 57–52	$29,690/yr	22.6x
25	Bowie State University Bowie, MD · Public	51 56–52	$34,257/yr	13.6x
26	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	51 55–51	$35,322/yr	12.8x
27	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	51 54–52	$37,964/yr	11.4x
28	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	50 55–50	$31,857/yr	16.5x
29	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	50 56–50	$30,205/yr	17.6x
30	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	50 56–51	$31,950/yr	16.0x
31	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	50 55–51	$33,489/yr	9.4x
32	Walden University Minneapolis, MN · Private for-profit	50 50–50	$43,693/yr	7.4x
33	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	50 51–50	$39,880/yr	8.2x
34	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	50 55–51	$34,149/yr	11.4x
35	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	49 53–49	$35,436/yr	11.2x
36	Warner Pacific University Portland, OR · Private nonprofit	48 48–49	$45,523/yr	4.2x
37	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	48 52–49	$35,467/yr	11.6x
38	Weber State University Ogden, UT · Public	48 51–48	$35,861/yr	13.7x
39	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public	48 51–49	$37,050/yr	10.2x
40	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA · Public	48 54–49	$31,184/yr	15.1x
41	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	47 50–48	$36,364/yr	9.8x
42	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	47 52–48	$34,610/yr	9.3x
43	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public	47 49–48	$38,973/yr	7.4x
44	University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK · Public	47 51–48	$35,491/yr	11.6x
45	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	46 50–47	$36,214/yr	8.4x
46	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	46 52–47	$29,762/yr	9.1x
47	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	46 51–46	$33,878/yr	12.7x
48	Kent State University at Stark North Canton, OH · Public	46 50–46	$33,643/yr	13.1x
49	Kent State University at Salem Salem, OH · Public	46 50–46	$33,643/yr	13.1x
50	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	46 50–47	$35,047/yr	9.4x
51	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public	46 52–47	$30,619/yr	13.2x
52	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	46 51–47	$33,654/yr	8.1x
53	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV · Public	46 51–47	$32,306/yr	11.7x
54	California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA · Public	46 51–47	$34,089/yr	10.5x
55	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	45 49–46	$36,445/yr	7.7x
56	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	45 51–45	$30,441/yr	13.4x
57	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	45 49–45	$35,234/yr	7.8x
58	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	45 48–45	$36,040/yr	6.4x
59	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	45 48–45	$36,743/yr	5.4x
60	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN · Public	45 49–46	$35,941/yr	9.7x
61	Southern University at New Orleans New Orleans, LA · Public	45 50–46	$33,687/yr	10.2x
62	Southeastern Oklahoma State University Durant, OK · Public	45 50–46	$32,997/yr	10.5x
63	York College of Pennsylvania York, PA · Private nonprofit	45 47–46	$39,158/yr	3.0x
64	Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies Fayette, MO · Private nonprofit	45 50–46	$32,588/yr	13.6x
65	American Public University System Charles Town, WV · Private for-profit	45 50–46	$34,347/yr	11.6x
66	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public	44 49–45	$31,758/yr	11.0x
67	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	44 50–45	$28,150/yr	15.3x
68	Connecticut College New London, CT · Private nonprofit	44 45–45	$41,609/yr	0.6x
69	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	44 48–44	$34,241/yr	9.2x
70	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private nonprofit	44 47–45	$38,401/yr	1.8x
71	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	44 50–44	$30,062/yr	13.6x
72	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	44 50–45	$32,481/yr	10.0x
73	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	44 49–45	$33,543/yr	8.7x
74	Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA · Public	43 49–43	$29,387/yr	15.6x
75	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	43 49–44	$31,392/yr	10.0x
76	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	43 48–43	$32,614/yr	10.3x
77	Lesley University Cambridge, MA · Private nonprofit	43 45–43	$38,516/yr	1.9x
78	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private nonprofit	43 43–44	$44,345/yr	1.3x
79	Baker College Owosso, MI · Private nonprofit	43 46–43	$36,494/yr	7.0x
80	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	43 47–44	$35,318/yr	7.2x
81	Southern Nazarene University Bethany, OK · Private nonprofit	43 44–43	$41,062/yr	2.7x
82	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	43 48–44	$33,543/yr	8.1x
83	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	43 48–44	$34,499/yr	8.9x
84	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	43 49–44	$31,642/yr	7.1x
85	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	43 49–44	$31,642/yr	7.1x
86	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	43 49–44	$31,642/yr	7.1x
87	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	43 49–44	$31,642/yr	7.1x
88	Pacific Oaks College Pasadena, CA · Private nonprofit	42 44–43	$39,077/yr	2.8x
89	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	42 47–43	$31,642/yr	5.9x
90	University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public	42 47–43	$34,340/yr	9.6x
91	Ashford University San Diego, CA · Private for-profit	42 45–42	$36,944/yr	6.1x
92	Concordia University-Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN · Private nonprofit	42 43–43	$40,593/yr	3.0x
93	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ · Public	42 46–42	$34,109/yr	4.8x
94	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	41 46–41	$33,682/yr	4.3x
95	Ball State University Muncie, IN · Public	41 47–42	$32,836/yr	6.6x
96	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public	41 46–42	$33,911/yr	4.5x
97	Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor, MI · Private nonprofit	41 44–42	$37,401/yr	1.9x
98	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	41 45–42	$35,209/yr	6.0x
99	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public	41 46–42	$33,015/yr	7.2x
100	East Carolina University Greenville, NC · Public	41 47–42	$29,607/yr	12.5x
101	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	41 46–42	$34,205/yr	6.2x
102	East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN · Public	41 46–42	$33,301/yr	9.2x
103	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	41 47–42	$28,589/yr	12.2x
104	University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS · Public	40 46–41	$31,020/yr	9.8x
105	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public	40 45–41	$32,769/yr	9.4x
106	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	40 45–41	$34,533/yr	3.1x
107	Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI · Public	39 43–40	$35,216/yr	5.5x
108	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	39 44–39	$31,434/yr	6.4x
109	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	39 45–40	$32,146/yr	5.5x
110	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	39 44–39	$32,175/yr	6.8x
111	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public	39 44–40	$33,643/yr	7.0x
112	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	38 44–39	$30,264/yr	8.3x
113	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	38 44–39	$30,502/yr	7.8x
114	University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO · Public	38 44–39	$32,574/yr	8.1x
115	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN · Public	38 43–39	$32,300/yr	6.7x
116	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	37 43–38	$28,342/yr	8.0x
117	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	37 43–38	$29,539/yr	5.2x
118	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public	37 42–37	$27,373/yr	6.7x
119	Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Indiana, PA · Public	37 42–37	$30,675/yr	7.6x
120	Texas A & M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	37 42–37	$27,918/yr	6.1x
121	Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY · Public	36 42–37	$27,514/yr	9.2x
122	University of Maine Orono, ME · Public	36 42–37	$30,983/yr	6.7x
123	Stevenson University Owings Mills, MD · Private nonprofit	36 41–37	$34,273/yr	2.3x
124	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	36 41–36	$25,965/yr	10.3x
125	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	36 42–37	$31,452/yr	2.6x
126	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	36 41–37	$26,897/yr	5.8x
127	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	36 42–37	$27,006/yr	6.3x
128	Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN · Public	36 41–36	$26,384/yr	10.0x
129	Abilene Christian University-Undergraduate Online Addison, TX · Private nonprofit	36 42–37	$30,278/yr	6.4x
130	Post University Waterbury, CT · Private for-profit	35 41–36	$31,627/yr	4.9x
131	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private nonprofit	35 37–35	$21,619/yr	12.1x
132	Grambling State University Grambling, LA · Public	35 38–36	$23,073/yr	6.5x
133	Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA · Public	35 41–36	$26,591/yr	5.6x
134	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA · Public	35 41–36	$29,094/yr	7.9x
135	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit	35 38–36	$36,858/yr	1.0x
136	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public	35 41–36	$30,835/yr	6.3x
137	Southern Wesleyan University Central, SC · Private nonprofit	35 41–36	$31,326/yr	1.8x
138	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private nonprofit	35 40–36	$25,342/yr	10.9x
139	Utah Valley University Orem, UT · Public	35 37–36	$20,971/yr	7.4x
140	Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Fayette, MO · Private nonprofit	34 39–34	$32,588/yr	2.7x
141	Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA · Private nonprofit	33 38–34	$32,957/yr	2.1x
142	Merrimack College North Andover, MA · Private nonprofit	33 38–34	$33,640/yr	1.6x
143	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	33 36–34	$21,243/yr	4.4x
144	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	33 39–34	$26,561/yr	8.2x
145	Liberty University Lynchburg, VA · Private nonprofit	33 39–34	$31,083/yr	3.4x
146	Curry College Milton, MA · Private nonprofit	32 38–33	$29,532/yr	0.6x
147	University of Vermont Burlington, VT · Public	32 37–32	$25,249/yr	2.3x
148	Point University West Point, GA · Private nonprofit	31 36–32	$25,578/yr	1.9x
149	Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA · Private nonprofit	31 36–31	$32,943/yr	1.3x
150	Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA · Private nonprofit	30 35–30	$27,037/yr	2.2x
151	Benedict College Columbia, SC · Private nonprofit	30 33–31	$21,607/yr	2.0x
152	Baylor University Waco, TX · Private nonprofit	30 36–31	$32,137/yr	1.2x
153	Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit	29 35–29	$28,453/yr	1.7x
154	St. Joseph's University-New York Brooklyn, NY · Private nonprofit	29 31–29	$21,796/yr	0.6x
155	Abilene Christian University Abilene, TX · Private nonprofit	29 35–30	$30,278/yr	1.5x
156	John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR · Private nonprofit	27 32–28	$24,935/yr	2.4x

Scores calculated using College Scorecard, BLS, and AI task-exposure data. See full methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Human Development & Family Studies?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score, University of the District of Columbia ranks #1 for Human Development & Family Studies with a score of 67/100 and graduate earnings of $44,819/yr.

How much do Human Development & Family Studies graduates earn?

Across 156 schools, Human Development & Family Studies graduates earn an average of $33,473/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $46,954/yr.

Is Human Development & Family Studies a good major for AI resistance?

Human Development & Family Studies has an average AI task exposure of 41%, rated "High". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.