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Best College Rankings

By cost

What are the best value colleges in America?

Compare these side by side

The short answer

Berea College is the cheapest good college in the country by a wide margin: it charges no tuition to any admitted student, its average net price is $6,106 and its graduates leave with median federal debt of $3,591. UC Merced comes next at $11,983, followed by Georgia Tech at $12,116 with median earnings of $102,772 — the best price-to-outcome pairing here. The counterintuitive finding is that the wealthiest private universities are often cheaper than public flagships for lower-income families, because they meet full demonstrated need: Stanford's average net price is $13,807.

The list

  1. 1

    Berea College

    Berea, KY · Private nonprofit · 1,513 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $6,106 / $43,150

    No tuition for any admitted student, funded by a $1 billion-plus endowment, with median graduating debt of $3,591. Admission requires demonstrated financial need, and every student works 10 to 15 hours weekly. Earnings of $43,150 are the lowest here — it is a rural liberal arts college, not a pipeline into finance.

    Acceptance rate
    19.3%
    Average net price
    $6,106
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $43,150
    6-yr graduation rate
    58.2%
    Median federal debt
    $3,591
  2. 2

    University of California, Merced

    Merced, CA · Public · 8,372 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $11,983 / $64,368

    The second-lowest net price on this list, $11,983, because 58.9% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants and California's aid layers on top of federal. Research-university access at a school that admits 90.5% of applicants. Weigh it against a 68.7% six-year graduation rate.

    Acceptance rate
    90.5%
    Average net price
    $11,983
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $64,368
    6-yr graduation rate
    68.7%
    Median federal debt
    $16,144
  3. 3

    Georgia Institute of Technology

    Atlanta, GA · Public · 18,785 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $12,116 / $102,772

    The best earnings-to-cost ratio of any institution profiled here: $102,772 median earnings against a $12,116 net price. Georgia HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships cut in-state cost further still.

    Acceptance rate
    14.1%
    Average net price
    $12,116
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $102,772
    6-yr graduation rate
    94.0%
    Median federal debt
    $21,672
  4. 4

    Stanford University

    Stanford, CA · Private nonprofit · 7,554 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $13,807 / $124,080

    Counterintuitive but true: free tuition under roughly $150,000 of family income, and no tuition, room or board under about $100,000, brings the average net price to $13,807 — cheaper than most public flagships for lower-income families.

    Acceptance rate
    3.6%
    Average net price
    $13,807
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $124,080
    6-yr graduation rate
    91.9%
    Median federal debt
    $12,000
  5. 5

    Purdue University

    West Lafayette, IN · Public · 44,503 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $14,600 / $72,424

    In-state tuition frozen at $9,992 since 2012, meaning today's students pay less in real terms than students did over a decade ago — paired with a top-ten engineering college.

    Acceptance rate
    49.9%
    Average net price
    $14,600
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $72,424
    6-yr graduation rate
    83.1%
    Median federal debt
    $19,500
  6. 6

    California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

    San Luis Obispo, CA · Public · 21,996 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $16,665 / $90,768

    In-state tuition of $13,596 with earnings of $90,768, matching private national universities. San Luis Obispo housing costs are the main thing pushing the net price up.

    Acceptance rate
    31.3%
    Average net price
    $16,665
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $90,768
    6-yr graduation rate
    86.4%
    Median federal debt
    $18,500
  7. 7

    University of Arizona

    Tucson, AZ · Public · 42,537 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $16,674 / $59,979

    Predictable automatic merit scholarships bring many out-of-state students near in-state rates. Weigh this against a 67.5% six-year graduation rate, the lowest on this list.

    Acceptance rate
    86.1%
    Average net price
    $16,674
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $59,979
    6-yr graduation rate
    67.5%
    Median federal debt
    $19,620
  8. 8

    University of Texas at Austin

    Austin, TX · Public · 42,855 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $19,857 / $75,121

    A top-30 national university at $11,688 in-state tuition, with #1-ranked accounting and petroleum engineering and direct access to Austin's technology employers.

    Acceptance rate
    26.6%
    Average net price
    $19,857
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $75,121
    6-yr graduation rate
    88.9%
    Median federal debt
    $20,500
  9. 9

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Cambridge, MA · Private nonprofit · 4,535 undergraduates

    Avg. net price / earnings

    $20,111 / $143,372

    Need-blind for all applicants including international, meets full need, and packages no loans. Median graduating debt of $14,768 is lower than most public universities, and median earnings of $143,372 are the highest in this dataset.

    Acceptance rate
    4.5%
    Average net price
    $20,111
    Median earnings (10 yr)
    $143,372
    6-yr graduation rate
    96.4%
    Median federal debt
    $14,768

Frequently asked questions

It depends entirely on your family income. If you qualify for significant need-based aid, the wealthiest private universities are frequently cheaper — Stanford's average net price of $13,807 and MIT's of $20,111 are below the out-of-state cost at most public flagships. If you earn too much for need-based aid, your in-state public university is almost always the cheaper option. Run the net price calculator on each school's website before assuming either way.

Net price is what a typical family actually pays after grants and scholarships are subtracted — tuition, fees, housing, food and books, minus free money. It is the only number that lets you compare a $67,000 private university against a $12,000 public one honestly, because discount rates vary enormously. Every U.S. college is federally required to publish a net price calculator.

Berea College charges no tuition to any admitted student through its Tuition Promise Scholarship, funded by an endowment exceeding $1 billion; admission is limited to students with demonstrated financial need and all students work on campus. Several other institutions offer free tuition below an income threshold rather than universally — Stanford under roughly $150,000, Rice under about $140,000, and MIT under approximately $100,000 of family income.

Because there is no net price to rank it by. Grove City declined to participate in federal student aid programs, so the Department of Education holds no average net price, no median debt and no earnings data for it — and this list is ordered on the first of those. Its published charges are among the lowest of any private college in the country, $21,700 in tuition plus $12,230 in room and board, and it graduates 83.2% of students within six years. But a sticker price is a claim and a net price is a measurement, and we will not put one in a column that is labelled as the other. Its profile page states each missing figure and why it is missing.

How this list was ordered

Average net price from College Scorecard, lowest first, restricted to institutions with a six-year graduation rate above 55% and median federal debt at graduation below $22,000. Median earnings are shown beside the price, because a low price attached to a weak outcome is not value.

Inclusion criteria

  • Average net price below $26,000 per year in College Scorecard data.
  • Six-year graduation rate above 55%.
  • Median federal debt at graduation below $22,000.
  • Published, verifiable net price data rather than sticker-price discounting claims.
9 schools comparedUpdated September 1, 2026