The Cash-Cow Index
Every US master's program we've run through our 8-test Cash-Cow Index, ranked highest to lowest. Higher score = more cash-cow-shaped: heavily international, full-pay, sold hard, quiet about outcomes.
The score is a heuristic, not a grade. It measures how a program is built — who it enrolls, what it charges, how it's delivered, and whether it's honest about results — not whether any individual student gets value from it. Read the full method and the case for why this pattern exists in our investigation of cash-cow master's programs, and score your own offer against the 8 tests.
Showing 51 of 51 programs
| # | Program | Score | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trine UniversityDay-1 CPT master's | 90 | Strong |
| 2 | Univ. of the CumberlandsDay-1 CPT master's | 90 | Strong |
| 3 | Campbellsville UniversityDay-1 CPT master's | 88 | Strong |
| 4 | Columbia SPSMS Applied Analytics | 75 | Strong |
| 5 | USC MarshallMS Business Analytics | 69 | Elevated |
| 6 | NYU SPSMS Management & Systems | 68 | Elevated |
| 7 | NYU TandonMS Computer Science | 67 | Elevated |
| 8 | BU Metropolitan CollegeMS Computer Science | 67 | Elevated |
| 9 | UIUC GiesMS Business Analytics (on-campus) | 67 | Elevated |
| 10 | George Washington Univ.MS Computer Science | 67 | Elevated |
| 11 | Saint Louis UniversityMS Information Systems | 67 | Elevated |
| 12 | Duke (Pratt)Master of Engineering Management | 65 | Elevated |
| 13 | UT Dallas (Jindal)MS IT & Management | 65 | Elevated |
| 14 | Illinois TechMS Computer Science | 65 | Elevated |
| 15 | Stevens InstituteMS Computer Science | 63 | Elevated |
| 16 | Rochester (Simon)MS Business Analytics | 63 | Elevated |
| 17 | Purdue (Daniels)MS Business Analytics (BAIM) | 63 | Elevated |
| 18 | USC ViterbiMS Computer Science | 62 | Elevated |
| 19 | Univ. of North TexasMS Computer Science | 62 | Elevated |
| 20 | NJITMS Computer Science | 62 | Elevated |
| 21 | UIUC iSchoolMS Information Management | 60 | Elevated |
| 22 | Maryland (Smith)MS Business Analytics & AI | 60 | Elevated |
| 23 | USC ViterbiMS Engineering Management | 59 | Elevated |
| 24 | Cornell (Bowers)MPS Information Science | 59 | Elevated |
| 25 | Pace (Seidenberg)MS Computer Science | 58 | Elevated |
| 26 | George Mason Univ.MS Computer Science | 58 | Elevated |
| 27 | SUNY BuffaloMS Computer Science & Eng. | 57 | Elevated |
| 28 | PurdueMS Computer Science | 56 | Elevated |
| 29 | Cornell TechMEng Computer Science | 55 | Elevated |
| 30 | Georgetown SCSMPS Analytics | 54 | Some markers |
| 31 | UC San DiegoMS Computer Science | 53 | Some markers |
| 32 | CMU HeinzMS Information Systems Mgmt | 52 | Some markers |
| 33 | UT ArlingtonMS Computer Science | 52 | Some markers |
| 34 | Dartmouth (Thayer)Master of Engineering Management | 52 | Some markers |
| 35 | Johns HopkinsMSE Computer Science (residential) | 51 | Some markers |
| 36 | Texas A&MMS Computer Science | 50 | Some markers |
| 37 | Michigan (UMSI)Master of Applied Data Science | 49 | Some markers |
| 38 | UCLAMS Computer Science | 49 | Some markers |
| 39 | Northwestern (McCormick)MS Machine Learning & Data Science | 49 | Some markers |
| 40 | Northeastern (Khoury)Align MS Computer Science | 49 | Some markers |
| 41 | Stony BrookMS Computer Science | 48 | Some markers |
| 42 | South Florida (Muma)MS Business Analytics & IS | 47 | Some markers |
| 43 | UW–MadisonMS Data Science | 44 | Some markers |
| 44 | Univ. of WashingtonMS Data Science | 41 | Some markers |
| 45 | San José StateMS Computer Science | 39 | Some markers |
| 46 | Ohio StateMS Computer Science & Eng. | 39 | Some markers |
| 47 | Penn (Engineering)MCIT (on-campus) | 38 | Some markers |
| 48 | UT Austin (McCombs)MS Business Analytics | 38 | Some markers |
| 49 | Arizona StateMaster of Computer Science | 33 | Some markers |
| 50 | Penn State (World Campus)MS Data Analytics (online) | 26 | Few markers |
| 51 | Georgia TechOMSCS (online MS CS) | 12 | Few markers |
Scores reflect public data as of June 2026 and our reading of it. “Cash cow” describes a revenue-oriented structure, not an allegation of wrongdoing; each scorecard links its sources and invites the school to respond. Figures change — verify current terms with the program.
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