CHARLOTTE -- Three higher education institutions in North Carolina are among a list of the 50 colleges and universities as the best values in undergraduate and graduate college education.

Independent online guide Value Colleges' (www.valuecolleges.com) Top 50 Best Value MSN list leads the prospective student to the institutions that most effectively balance cost and quality for a reliable return on investment.

These 50 schools present the smartest educational investment for students hoping to raise their career status and income with an MSN degree, which today is a necessity for nurses who want to enter administrative or teaching positions.

Factors that went in to the Value College Top 50 included:

- Payscale's 2015 College Salary Report
- U.S. News & World Report's national rankings
- Credit per hour tuition rate as reported by each individual college
- NIH Funding (if applicable)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham takes the top spot, followed by the University of Washington and Arizona State University, respectively.

Schools making the list include (in alphabetical order):

Arizona State University - Tempe, AZ
Boston College - Boston, MA
Columbia University - New York City, NY
Duke University - Durham, NC
Emory University - Atlanta, GA
Florida Atlantic University - Boca Raton, FL
George Mason University - Fairfax, VA
Indiana University - Purdue University- Indianapolis - Indianapolis, IN
Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, MD
Loyola University Chicago - Chicago, IL
Marquette University - Milwaukee, WI
Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI
New York University - New York City, NY
Ohio State University - Columbus, OH
Pennsylvania State University - State College, PA
Purdue University - West Lafayette, IN
Rush University - Chicago, IL
Stony Brook University - Stony Brook, NY
Texas Woman's College - Denton, TX
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Birmingham, AL
University of Alabama in Huntsville - Huntsville, AL
University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ
University of California, Davis - Davis, CA
University of California, LA - Los Angeles, CA
University of California, San Francisco - San Francisco, CA
University of Central Florida - Orlando, FL
University of Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH
University of Illinois at Chicago - Chicago, IL
University of Kansas, Kansas City - Kansas City, KS
University of Louisville - Louisville, KY
University of Maryland, Baltimore - Baltimore, MD
University of Massachusetts Boston - Boston, MA
University of Miami - Miami, FL
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Ann Arbor, MI
University of Missouri - Columbus, MO
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC
University of North Carolina, Greensboro - Greensboro, NC
University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA
University of Rochester - Rochester, NY
University of San Diego - San Diego, CA
University of South Florida, Tampa - Tampa, FL
University of Texas at Arlington - Arlington, TX
University of Texas at Austin - Austin, TX
University of Utah, Salt Lake City - Salt Lake City, UT
University of Virginia - Charlottesville, VA
University of Washington - Seattle, WA
Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN
Virginia Commonwealth University - Richmond, VA
Yale University - New Haven, CT

The full rankings and methodology on the Top 50 Best Value MSN Programs of 2015 are online at http://www.valuecolleges.com/rankings/best-value-msn-programs/