Most Affordable In-State Colleges

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This is the third of my finance-focused rankings. This ranking, aptly named, uses proxies to rank colleges for affordability, assuming that one is paying in-state tuition for all public schools.

In all of these rankings, I’ll highlight the “Super Six” – institutions that qualify for my rankings and either charge no tuition or offer full tuition scholarships to all admitted students.

Berea College, Cooper Union, Franklin Olin School of Engineering, U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

1. New College of Florida
2. California State University, Long Beach
3. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
4. University of California, Merced
5. San Jose St. University
6. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
7. Barnard College
8. University of California, San Diego
9. University of California, Santa Barbara
10. University of California, Berkeley
11. University of California, Davis
12. Brigham Young University
13. University of Florida, Gainesville
13. University of Washington, Seattle
15. University of Virginia, Charlottesville
16. University of California, Irvine
17. Harvard University
18. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
19. University of Utah, Salt Lake City
20. University of California, Riverside
21. Texas A&M University
22. University of California, Los Angeles
23. Arizona St. University
24. Colorado St. University
25. University of Buffalo (SUNY)
26. Oklahoma St. University
27. University of California, Santa Cruz
28. University of Montana, Missoula
29. University of Illinois, Chicago
30. University of Wyoming, Laramie
31. Vassar College
32. University of Georgia, Athens
33. University of Louisville
34. University of Nebraska, Lincoln
35. Swarthmore College
36. North Carolina St. University
37. Pomona College
38. Missouri University of Science and Technology
39. California Polytechnic Institute, Pomona
40. University of Nevada, Reno
41. Grinnell College
42. Princeton University
42. Vanderbilt University
44. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
45. San Diego St. University
45. University of Hawaii, Manoa
47. University of Missouri, Columbia
48. Earlham College
49. Williams College
50. University of Mississippi, Oxford
51. Georgia Institute of Technology
52. Yale University
53. University of Arkansas, Fayatteville
54. City College (CUNY)
54. Hamilton College
56. Florida St. University
57. Cornell University
57. Virginia Military Institute
59. University of Arizona, Tucson
60. Amherst College
61. California Institute of Technology
62. University of Idaho, Moscow
63. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
64. Stanford University
65. Virginia Polytechnic Institute
65. Mississippi St. University
67. Rice University
68. Kansas St. University
69. Wesleyan University
70. University of Kentucky, Lexington
71. Colgate University
72. Auburn University
73. Dartmouth College
74. Clemson University
75. University of Colorado, Boulder
76. University of Wisconsin, Madison
77. University of Massachusetts, Lowell
78. University of South Dakota, Vermillion
79. Colorado College
79. Duke University
81. University of Pennsylvania
82. George Mason University
83. Kansas University
84. Carleton College
85. Washington and Lee University
86. University at Albany (SUNY)
87. University of South Carolina, Columbia
87. University of Maryland, College Park
87. University of Vermont, Burlington
87. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
91. Binghamton University (SUNY)
92. University of Oklahoma, Norman
93. College of William and Mary
94. Wellesley College
95. Haverford College
96. Boise St. University
97. Bowdoin College
98. Pitzer College
99. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
100. Hillsdale College

Using data from each institution’s Common Data Set, this ranking is composed of the school’s average cost of attendance (total cost minus average financial aid) and the average indebtedness at graduation, weighted equally.