Kiplinger's Best College Values

Compare the 100 top values in public colleges and universities, or create your own custom lists of individual colleges or schools from a particular state.

Use the arrows at the top of any column of data to rank any list of colleges by critical cost and financial-aid metrics. For more information on a particular college, click the college's name for a complete data sheet.

Public Colleges

Rank (in- state)	Rank (out-of- state)	Name	State	Admit rate	4-yr- grad rate	Total cost per yr. (in- state)	Cost after need- based aid (in- state)	Total cost per yr. (out-of- state)	Cost after need- based aid (out-of- state)	Avg. debt at graduation	Salary yardstick^#
1	1	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	30%	82%	$21,494	$4,250	$46,576	$29,332	$20,127	$51,000
2	2	University of Virginia	VA	30	87	28,433	8,296	57,774	37,637	24,905	60,100
3	7	University of California, Berkeley	CA	15	73	30,813	11,726	57,495	38,408	17,869	60,800
4	6	College of William and Mary	VA	34	82	34,389	19,316	54,900	39,827	26,017	55,000
5	13	University of Michigan	MI	26	75	26,952	11,552	57,330	41,930	26,034	57,400
6	14	University of California, Los Angeles	CA	17	74	29,541	10,575	56,223	37,257	21,596	59,600
7	3	University of Florida	FL	48	66	17,501	10,526	39,779	32,804	21,028	51,100
8	10	University of Maryland, College Park	MD	45	70	23,139	13,851	45,003	35,715	26,818	60,500
9	15	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	32	40	24,160	14,052	44,352	34,244	25,182	74,500
10	11	University of Georgia	GA	53	63	22,256	13,333	40,466	31,543	22,087	47,300
11	18	University of Wisconsin — Madison	WI	49	57	22,134	11,965	44,384	34,215	26,994	51,600
12	24	University of Washington	WA	53	63	23,269	7,769	47,307	31,807	21,180	53,700
13	26	University of Texas at Austin	TX	39	52	20,876	11,788	46,528	37,440	25,349	53,000
14	28	University of California, Santa Barbara	CA	33	68	29,109	10,411	55,791	37,093	20,978	51,400
15	8	Binghamton University, State University of New York	NY	42	69	23,861	15,310	38,941	30,390	25,844	57,400
16	20	University of Illinois at Urbana — Champaign	IL	66	71	28,206	14,504	43,828	30,126	25,448	56,600
17	31	University of California, San Diego	CA	34	58	28,704	10,557	55,386	37,239	21,660	59,000
18	9	North Carolina State University	NC	50	44	20,596	10,683	38,115	28,202	17,461	47,600
19	21	New College of Florida	FL	61	63	17,125	8,373	40,153	31,401	14,929	NA
20	4	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus	MN	45	59	24,519	14,600	34,183	24,264	26,006	48,300
21	17	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	CA	31	42	23,430	19,905	34,590	31,065	21,678	61,800
22	19	Ohio State University	OH	49	59	22,937	13,304	42,129	32,496	27,400	42,900
23	44	University of California, Irvine	CA	39	72	30,468	11,875	57,150	38,557	20,628	54,500
24	29	Clemson University	SC	51	61	24,344	15,398	44,226	35,280	30,270	50,800
25	33	Miami University	OH	65	65	28,376	18,833	46,196	36,653	30,015	45,500
26	25	Baruch College of the City University of New York	NY	32	42	25,320	18,051	35,790	28,521	7,915	54,900
27	37	University of Connecticut	CT	53	70	27,352	17,250	49,144	39,042	24,999	54,000
28	12	Florida State University	FL	56	62	17,811	9,894	32,977	25,060	22,912	44,000
29	22	College of New Jersey	NJ	49	72	29,875	18,239	41,052	29,416	36,994	56,000
30	66	University of California, Davis	CA	38	58	30,485	12,894	57,167	39,576	19,588	56,400
31	5	Truman State University	MO	79	55	17,339	10,168	23,823	16,652	24,220	43,000
32	56	University of Texas at Dallas	TX	61	48	24,030	15,304	45,522	36,796	21,174	49,700
33	34	Rutgers University — New Brunswick	NJ	58	58	27,982	17,284	43,633	32,935	25,334	54,500
34	30	Purdue University	IN	59	47	21,252	8,418	40,054	27,220	27,711	54,300
35	32	Stony Brook University, State University of New York	NY	41	48	22,781	15,016	40,021	32,256	23,592	55,000
36	35	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	73	62	22,486	15,677	39,005	32,196	28,873	59,000
37	16	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	NM	24	20	15,911	10,416	29,061	23,566	20,611	54,300
38	73	Michigan State University	MI	66	51	24,873	15,105	48,700	38,932	26,091	49,900
39	46	University of Delaware	DE	63	68	25,698	16,640	45,118	36,060	34,101	54,900
40	23	State University of New York College at Geneseo	NY	73	69	21,440	15,324	31,290	25,174	22,300	46,200
41	36	University of Pittsburgh	PA	54	64	30,248	21,914	41,388	33,054	38,045	48,800
42	55	Texas A&M; University	TX	66	51	21,452	11,634	41,630	31,812	24,276	53,900
43	68	Auburn University	AL	78	44	24,794	17,104	42,938	35,248	28,170	45,700
44	65	Penn State University Park	PA	51	64	31,600	24,456	46,082	38,938	35,972	47,700
45	57	St. Mary's College of Maryland	MD	79	67	27,834	18,063	42,982	33,211	22,401	47,700
46	52	University of Massachusetts Amherst	MA	58	66	28,597	18,692	45,830	35,925	31,958	49,300
47	93	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	80	47	26,921	16,673	50,469	40,221	25,605	47,700
48	60	University of South Carolina	SC	65	55	22,562	17,587	41,990	37,015	28,517	42,200
49	70	University of Tennessee	TN	76	43	24,560	15,242	42,980	33,662	24,272	42,300
50	95	University of California, Santa Cruz	CA	51	55	30,416	11,081	57,098	37,763	22,580	43,000
51	40	University of Central Florida	FL	49	41	17,074	11,817	33,173	27,916	21,824	42,900
52	39	California State University, Long Beach	CA	34	12	20,756	14,269	30,428	23,941	16,077	46,500
53	47	University of Missouri	MO	78	46	21,160	11,700	37,534	28,074	26,060	46,000
54	58	University of Oklahoma	OK	78	38	21,875	15,900	36,197	30,222	27,255	46,700
55	88	Indiana University Bloomington	IN	78	60	21,719	11,144	45,577	35,002	27,681	44,700
56	48	University of Arkansas	AR	60	39	20,198	13,330	34,546	27,678	24,768	43,400
57	74	University at Buffalo, the State University of New York	NY	60	55	24,318	18,883	41,558	36,123	19,500	48,400
58	94	University of Vermont	VT	71	68	30,078	15,064	53,142	38,128	27,006	43,900
59	45	San Diego State University	CA	34	30	23,714	13,814	34,874	24,974	20,100	47,400
60	54	University of Alabama	AL	54	41	21,220	10,475	37,700	26,955	29,320	41,900
61	78	University of Utah	UT	81	28	19,156	12,246	37,677	30,767	19,056	49,500
62	61	James Madison University	VA	73	66	20,652	13,572	36,426	29,346	25,677	52,600
63	50	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	53	60	27,469	17,397	36,469	26,397	10,715	46,000
64	43	Queens College of the City University of New York	NY	40	28	22,322	14,835	29,432	21,945	14,307	47,500
65	85	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	77	41	23,514	12,627	40,191	29,304	24,509	45,800
66	27	University of South Florida	FL	45	43	17,310	10,141	28,224	21,055	22,899	41,000
67	63	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	MD	59	38	23,682	15,510	36,910	28,738	26,391	53,700
68	62	University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	61	50	18,116	11,804	32,084	25,772	26,234	39,400
69	98	University of California, Riverside	CA	56	48	31,681	13,969	58,363	40,651	21,464	47,200
70	82	Arizona State University at the Tempe campus	AZ	83	45	22,859	13,263	38,959	29,363	22,972	45,100
71	42	Appalachian State University	NC	66	46	15,936	7,698	30,452	22,214	22,696	36,400
72	64	Florida International University	FL	50	28	18,944	12,955	31,342	25,353	18,918	43,700
73	77	Christopher Newport University	VA	60	57	25,208	18,592	36,834	30,218	28,968	42,500
74	67	University of North Florida	FL	57	27	17,366	11,035	31,770	25,439	19,396	41,100
75	53	State University of New York at New Paltz	NY	42	57	21,354	16,411	31,204	26,261	25,885	43,600
76	76	University of Louisville	KY	72	26	20,594	11,571	35,616	26,593	23,488	38,500
77	99	University of Oregon	OR	74	50	24,094	16,324	46,774	39,004	25,049	41,700
78	72	Louisiana Tech University	LA	64	32	16,542	7,256	33,276	23,990	24,179	40,700
79	97	University of Iowa	IA	81	51	19,633	11,681	39,871	31,919	28,771	49,100
80	38	Hunter College of the City University of New York	NY	39	25	16,328	8,466	23,888	16,026	13,000	45,000
81	79	University of Nebraska — Lincoln	NE	76	33	20,220	12,895	34,740	27,415	23,307	43,500
82	69	Oklahoma State University	OK	75	34	18,024	11,108	32,146	25,230	24,095	43,800
83	51	Iowa State University of Science and Technology	IA	87	41	17,570	10,511	30,934	23,875	27,571	47,800
84	75	Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO	88	23	20,253	12,529	37,521	29,797	29,312	64,100
85	87	University of North Georgia	GA	64	30	18,680	12,880	32,222	26,422	11,679	NA
86	86	Temple University	PA	56	43	28,572	22,182	39,564	33,174	37,372	47,200
87	41	University of Minnesota, Morris	MN	60	51	21,660	11,229	23,660	13,229	26,087	38,900
88	80	University of Mississippi	MS	79	39	18,946	10,968	33,214	25,236	27,535	40,500
89	49	University of Wisconsin — La Crosse	WI	80	36	15,367	9,921	23,888	18,442	25,805	44,700
90	100	George Mason University	VA	69	46	23,230	17,138	44,512	38,420	27,373	57,300
91	89	Arizona State University at the West campus	AZ	76	50	21,773	13,533	37,068	28,828	21,797	NA
92	84	Western Washington University	WA	82	40	19,104	9,843	32,845	23,584	22,357	43,600
93	92	University of North Carolina at Asheville	NC	79	36	17,073	10,423	33,468	26,818	23,483	34,500
94	59	University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma	OK	66	29	14,120	5,517	24,470	15,867	20,074	32,000
95	71	Purchase College, State University of New York	NY	41	49	22,548	13,079	31,868	22,399	28,368	34,400
96	90	Texas Tech University	TX	63	35	19,506	12,076	31,726	24,296	29,193	47,500
97	81	State University of New York at Plattsburgh	NY	50	44	21,276	13,860	31,126	23,710	28,438	39,500
98	83	Western Carolina University	NC	40	37	16,642	10,418	27,035	20,811	26,578	35,800
99	91	West Chester University of Pennsylvania	PA	59	43	19,656	14,231	30,748	25,323	32,031	46,100
100	96	University of North Carolina at Greensboro	NC	59	32	16,578	10,623	31,440	25,485	26,123	36,000

Cost Data - through November 11, 2016.
# - Based on the median earnings of workers who started at a particular college 10 years earlier and who received federal financial aid. The data don't consider whether the student graduated or went on to graduate school.
NA - Information not available.

SOURCES - Peterson's Undergraduate Database (© 2016 Peterson's/Nelnet LLC. All rights reserved.), U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

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Tool | December 2016

Kiplinger's Best College Values

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