[Food, Nutrition & Related Services](/majors/family-consumer-human-sciences/food-nutrition-services/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong food, nutrition & related services education at a price that pays off.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 5 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for food, nutrition & related services students.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in food, nutrition & related services, balancing cost against outcomes.
Leading the list is The University Of Alabama, our #1 best value for food, nutrition & related services in Alabama. Set in the city of Tuscaloosa, The University Of Alabama is a very large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $12,180, compared with $34,172 for out-of-state students. Food, Nutrition & Related Services graduates carry a median of $27,000 in student loans. Soon after graduation, food, nutrition & related services degree recipients from The University Of Alabama generally make around $48,139. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 77% of applicants are accepted.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at Samford University earned it the #2 place for food, nutrition & related services. Set in the suburb of Birmingham, Samford University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit institution. Students from in state pay about $40,150 in tuition and fees. Typical student debt for food, nutrition & related services graduates is $21,039. Early-career food, nutrition & related services graduates make about $64,132. Set against $21,039 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. The acceptance rate is 82%.
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Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 5 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.
