Miami University ranks 11th in the nation when it comes to return on (tuition) investment, according to a just-released SmartMoney.com ranking.

The website analyzed 50 universities to determine which alumni received the best salary return for what they paid in tuition. Many public universities ranked above Ivy League and other private colleges.

Using data from The College Board, the U.S. Department of Education and PayScale, a compensation-data company that maintains employee salary profiles, SmartMoney collected median pay figures for two pools of each school’s alumni: recent graduates (class of 2009) and midcareer alumni (class of 1997).

SmartMoney collected out-of-state tuition charges and did not count financial aid or room and board charges. Editors assigned each school a “Payback Score,” an average of each alumni group’s current income expressed as a percentage of their sticker-price tuition and fees.

Miami alumni out of school for three years earned an average median salary of $46,600 and those alumni out of school for 15 years reported earning an average median salary of $85,500, according to the ranking.

SmartMoney’s survey is one of several national rankings that recognize the value of a Miami education. Miami boasts a median time to a degree of 3.7 years and one of the highest graduation rates, 81.5 percent, among nationalpublic universities.