2026 Best Value Urban & Regional Planning Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region
[Urban & Regional Planning](/majors/architecture-and-related-services/urban-and-regional-planning/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools to find the best return on investment for urban & regional planning students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Urban & Regional Planning Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in urban & regional planning, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Urban & Regional Planning Schools
For return on investment in urban & regional planning, no school beat University Of Colorado Denver this year. Located in the city of Denver, University Of Colorado Denver is a very large public university. In-state tuition and fees average $10,383, compared with $29,391 for out-of-state students. Urban & Regional Planning graduates carry a median of $26,582 in student loans. Urban & Regional Planning graduates of University Of Colorado Denver earn a median of $64,278 early in their careers. Set against $26,582 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. University Of Colorado Denver admits about 75% of applicants.
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 4 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
