Private colleges with the biggest payoff

20-year return on investment: $843,700
Annualized return: 13.9%
Total 4-year cost of attendance : $204,600

This research university located in the heart of Houston offers a broad range of degrees, producing many English majors as well as professionals in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

According to PayScale's analysis, Rice graduates tend to go into oil and gas field services, software development and architecture and earn about $60,000 a year in their first five years of employment.

"They're in this area where petroleum is a huge industry, and that drives a lot of jobs in Texas," said PayScale's Frank.

Frank said that wage growth in the Houston area has been strong in recent years, which is good news for the 66% of graduates who stay in Texas after school.

First published March 10, 2015: 1:18 PM ET

Source: PayScale
Based on employee survey data, PayScale calculated total median pay for each private school's undergraduate alumni over a 20-year period and compared it to the median pay for a high school graduate over 24 years. The return on investment (ROI) in 2014 dollars was determined by taking the difference between those median pay figures and subtracting the cost of attending the school in 2014 -- including tuition, room and board, and other costs -- and adjusting for scholarships and grants. The annualized ROI is calculated by dividing the earnings differential by the total cost and represents the percent of expected ROI received each year after graduation. Unlike in previous PayScale reports, the earnings differentials in this report do not take into account graduation rates. Alumni who attended graduate school or other higher education were excluded.

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