Which is a better return on investment for college: Michigan State or Indiana University?

The biggest practical tradeoff is cost versus business-network upside: Michigan State often comes out better on ROI when total cost is lower, while Indiana can justify the price more easily if you are specifically targeting Kelley and business-related recruiting. Both are large Big Ten publics with strong alumni bases, solid national recognition, and plenty of employer connections, so the gap is not huge for most majors. For overall long-term value, the answer usually comes down less to brand name and more to what you will study and how much you will actually pay.

Indiana has a clear edge in business because the Kelley School of Business is especially well known and has strong placement pipelines in finance, consulting, accounting, and corporate roles. If you are admitted to Kelley and plan to fully use its recruiting ecosystem, that can materially improve the payoff. Outside of business, though, Indiana is less likely to have a broad enough advantage to automatically outweigh a noticeably higher cost.

Michigan State is often the safer ROI pick across a wider range of majors because it is well regarded in business, supply chain, education, communications, agriculture, hospitality, and several STEM areas, while often being perceived as a strong-value public university. Its alumni network is large, and employers know the school well, especially in the Midwest. If your costs are meaningfully lower at MSU, that lower debt burden can matter more than a modest difference in prestige.

So the practical verdict is this: if Indiana means Kelley and the price is still manageable, Indiana may produce the better return. If you are comparing the schools more broadly, or MSU is clearly cheaper, Michigan State is usually the better investment over time because the outcomes are comparable enough that cost becomes the deciding factor.