Cheapest top-ranked colleges in the United States

International students can study at a top US college for an average of $21,000 per year

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Carly Minsky

December 16 2016

View the full Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2017 results

Studying at college in the United States can be notoriously expensive, particularly for “out-of-state” students, which often includes international students.

But not all colleges are created equal when it comes to value for money. More than 150 top-ranked US colleges appearing in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings offer yearly tuition for less than $30,000.

In fact, the cheapest college to appear in the top 500 of the ranking – Brigham Young University-Hawaii – charges just $4,940 annually for both in-state and out-of-state students.

Out of the 100 cheapest universities in the top 500 of the ranking, three-quarters are public universities, where fees for out-of-state students can be more than double those for in-state students.

However, even though private colleges mostly charge the same tuition for all students, the rate is often still significantly higher than the out-of-state fees at public universities.

New York is overwhelmingly the best represented state in the 100 cheapest but highly ranked colleges, largely because of the excellent public university system covered by Syracuse University.

In total, 14 New York colleges feature in the list. Illinois is the next best destination for a range of cheap but high-quality tuition; four public universities and two private universities in the state charge less than $27,000 a year and are also ranked in the top half of the WSJ/THE College Rankings.

The top affordable colleges are spread across the whole of the US, with two-thirds of the top 100 located in the South and the Midwest.

In addition to tuition fees, international students have to consider living costs as part of the expenses they will incur. For room and board on campus, costs vary widely in different institutions, starting at about $6,000 for the year at some private colleges such as Cedarville University in Ohio, and reaching more than $15,000 at public universities in New York City.

Resources: top universities worldwide

– Best universities in Asia
– Best universities in South America

Cheapest top colleges in the United States 2017

Includes only US colleges in the top 500 of the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2017

Rank	Institution	State	School type	In-state tuition	Out-of-state tuition	Campus room/board
375	Brigham Young University-Hawaii	Hawaii	Private not-for-profit	4,940	4,940	5,746
104	Brigham Young University-Provo	Utah	Private not-for-profit	5,000	5,000	7,330
492	University of the District of Columbia	Washington D.C.	Public	5,251	11,233	No data
384	University of Wyoming	Wyoming	Public	3,968	12,152	9,755
305	CUNY City College	New York	Public	6,389	13,199	14,458
350	CUNY Hunter College	New York	Public	6,429	13,239	7,828
414	CUNY Queens College	New York	Public	6,507	13,317	13,350
360	CUNY Brooklyn College	New York	Public	6,536	13,346	12,158
290	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	New York	Public	6,561	13,371	15,568
476	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	South Dakota	Public	10,040	13,560	6,370
453	Salem State University	North Carolina	Public	5,583	15,113	8,621
478	Western Illinois University	Illinois	Public	11,471	15,558	9,450
492	Ferris State University	Michigan	Public	10,556	16,414	9,208
405	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	New York	Public	7,398	17,048	15,120
243	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Alabama	Public	7,510	17,062	10,809
423	SUNY New Paltz	New York	Public	7,418	17,068	10,896
396	University of South Florida	Florida	Public	6,410	17,324	9,400
453	California State University, Long Beach	California	Public	6,452	17,612	11,688
445	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	Florida	Public	5,785	17,725	9,356
383	San Diego State University	California	Public	6,866	18,026	14,745
467	California State University, Chico	California	Public	7,002	18,162	11,208
487	Mississippi State University	Mississippi	Public	7,140	18,478	8,954
496	Stockton University	New Jersey	Public	12,568	19,089	11,164
325	University of Mississippi	Mississippi	Public	7,096	19,144	9,908
487	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	North Carolina	Public	6,277	19,448	9,820
492	Ohio University	Ohio	Public	10,602	19,566	10,478
265	Tuskegee University	Alabama	Private not-for-profit	19,570	19,570	9,104
388	University of Houston	Texas	Public	8,605	19,693	9,278
229	SUNY University at Albany	New York	Public	8,302	19,942	11,986
480	Lincoln Memorial University	Tennessee	Private not-for-profit	19,970	19,970	9,700
411	Oklahoma State University	Oklahoma	Public	7,442	20,027	8,710
221	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	California	Public	8,918	20,078	11,448
405	Illinois State University	Illinois	Public	12,802	20,231	9,814
353	West Virginia University	West Virginia	Public	6,960	20,242	9,582
398	Montclair State University	New Jersey	Public	11,540	20,254	14,010
190	SUNY Binghamton University	New York	Public	8,620	20,260	13,028
427	University of Arkansas	Arkansas	Public	8,210	20,300	9,454
299	University of Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Public	7,695	20,469	9,126
321	Rowan University	New Jersey	Public	12,616	20,570	11,406
315	Iowa State University	Iowa	Public	7,731	20,617	7,830
336	University of Nevada, Reno	Nevada	Public	6,707	20,617	10,196
483	University of New Mexico	New Mexico	Public	6,846	20,664	8,580
110	University of Minnesota Twin Cities	Minnesota	Public	13,560	20,810	8,920
436	Carolina University	North Carolina	Public	6,143	21,340	8,833
277	Xavier University of Louisiana	Louisiana	Private not-for-profit	21,552	21,552	8,500
226	Florida State University	Florida	Public	6,507	21,673	10,208
166	Hampton University	Virginia	Private not-for-profit	21,760	21,760	9,692
134	Stony Brook University	New York	Public	8,430	21,850	11,648
469	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Nebraska	Public	8,070	21,990	9,962
130	University at Buffalo	New York	Public	8,871	22,291	12,400
467	Massachusetts Maritime Academy	Massachusetts	Public	7,250	22,304	11,120
445	University of Central Florida	Florida	Public	6,368	22,467	9,300
372	University of Missouri-Kansas City	Missouri	Public	9,476	22,535	9,815
375	Kansas State University	Kansas	Public	9,034	22,624	8,060
414	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Maryland	Public	10,384	22,682	10,920
499	Southern Nazarene University	Oklahoma	Private not-for-profit	22,690	22,690	7,600
347	St Joseph's College-New York	New York	Private not-for-profit	22,830	22,830	No data
248	University of Colorado Denver	Colorado	Public	8,500	22,852	10,940
380	University of Kentucky	Kentucky	Public	10,616	22,888	10,506
473	University of Michigan-Dearborn	Michigan	Public	10,952	23,150	No data
143	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	North Carolina	Public	8,296	23,551	10,030
402	Brown University	Arkansas	Private not-for-profit	23,588	23,588	8,468
298	University of Kansas	Kansas	Public	9,707	23,847	9,138
87	Howard University	Washington D.C.	Private not-for-profit	23,970	23,970	13,646
315	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	Illinois	Public	11,917	24,215	9,694
153	Berea College	Kentucky	Private not-for-profit	24,270	24,270	6,322
360	University of Louisville	Kentucky	Public	10,432	24,320	7,710
325	University of Missouri-Columbia	Missouri	Public	9,433	24,460	9,386
131	Arizona State University	Arizona	Public	10,127	24,503	10,010
417	James Madison University	Virginia	Public	9,662	24,522	9,196
398	University of Alabama	Alabama	Public	9,826	24,950	12,716
311	University of Utah	Utah	Public	7,835	25,057	8,528
180	Temple University	Pennsylvania	Public	15,096	25,122	10,738
441	Salem College	North Carolina	Private not-for-profit	25,356	25,356	11,764
180	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Missouri	Public	9,537	25,404	9,396
453	University of Indianapolis	Indiana	Private not-for-profit	25,414	25,414	9,010
106	Spelman College	Georgia	Private not-for-profit	25,496	25,496	11,945
256	Washington State University	Washington	Public	12,428	25,510	11,276
464	Trinity Christian College	Illinois	Private not-for-profit	25,515	25,515	9,390
238	The College of New Jersey	New Jersey	Public	15,024	25,637	11,677
423	Walla Walla University	Washington	Private not-for-profit	25,866	25,866	6,465
487	Maryville University	Missouri	Private not-for-profit	25,884	25,884	10,773
353	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	Colorado	Public	9,897	26,077	10,488
331	Morehouse College	Georgia	Private not-for-profit	26,090	26,090	13,322
461	Alfred University	New York	Private not-for-profit	26,106	26,106	11,790
288	St Mary's University	Texas	Private not-for-profit	26,186	26,186	8,894
315	Andrews University	Michigan	Private not-for-profit	26,262	26,262	8,302
315	Oregon State University	Oregon	Public	9,122	26,294	10,929
334	University of Cincinnati-Uptown	Ohio	Public	11,010	26,334	10,496
372	Cedarville University	Ohio	Private not-for-profit	26,420	26,420	6,150
441	Louisiana State University	Louisiana	Public	8,750	26,467	10,804
71	Ohio State University	Ohio	Public	10,037	26,537	11,820
80	Texas A&M University-College Station	Texas	Public	9,685	26,583	9,522
344	Wayne State University	Michigan	Public	12,350	26,592	9,430
67	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Wisconsin	Public	10,410	26,660	8,546
194	Molloy College	New York	Private not-for-profit	26,850	26,850	13,590
117	University of Illinois at Chicago	Illinois	Public	14,614	26,864	10,871
353	University of Texas at Dallas	Texas	Public	10,864	26,894	9,542
433	Roosevelt University	Illinois	Private not-for-profit	26,900	26,900	12,532
394	Doane College-Crete	Nebraska	Private not-for-profit	27,180	27,180	8,030