Cheapest US colleges by average net price

Among the 167 major US colleges we track, the top by net price/yr are Princeton University, Utah Valley University, University of Florida. Ranked by average net price — the cost after grants and scholarships, which is far more meaningful than published sticker tuition. These schools cost families the least out of pocket on average, though your own price depends on income.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Data as of June 2026.

Full ranking

Rank	School	State	Type	Net price/yr
#1	Princeton University	NJ	Private (nonprofit)	$6,128
#2	Utah Valley University	UT	Public	$6,376
#3	University of Florida	FL	Public	$6,541
#4	California State University-Fullerton	CA	Public	$6,555
#5	Florida International University	FL	Public	$9,288
#6	University of South Florida	FL	Public	$9,812
#7	University of Nevada-Las Vegas	NV	Public	$10,359
#8	University of Central Florida	FL	Public	$10,411
#9	California State University-Long Beach	CA	Public	$10,440
#10	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	Public	$10,836
#11	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	Public	$10,974
#12	Florida State University	FL	Public	$11,297
#13	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Public	$11,655
#14	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	Public	$12,116
#15	San Francisco State University	CA	Public	$12,278
#16	University of California-San Diego	CA	Public	$12,470
#17	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	Public	$12,548
#18	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	Public	$13,138
#19	University of Mississippi	MS	Public	$13,314
#20	Rice University	TX	Private (nonprofit)	$13,370
#21	University of California-Berkeley	CA	Public	$13,481
#22	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	FL	Public	$13,739
#23	San Jose State University	CA	Public	$13,760
#24	Stanford University	CA	Private (nonprofit)	$13,807
#25	University of Georgia	GA	Public	$13,936
#26	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	Public	$14,091
#27	Northern Arizona University	AZ	Public	$14,158
#28	University of California-Irvine	CA	Public	$14,251
#29	University of Houston	TX	Public	$14,276
#30	University of California-Riverside	CA	Public	$14,304
#31	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	Public	$14,355
#32	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	Public	$14,600
#33	Old Dominion University	VA	Public	$14,638
#34	University of California-Davis	CA	Public	$14,741
#35	University of Chicago	IL	Private (nonprofit)	$14,860
#36	Utah State University	UT	Public	$14,936
#37	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	Public	$14,967
#38	Washington State University	WA	Public	$14,971
#39	Kennesaw State University	GA	Public	$15,048
#40	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	Public	$15,300
#41	San Diego State University	CA	Public	$15,364
#42	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	NC	Public	$15,435
#43	University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	Public	$15,489
#44	Brigham Young University	UT	Private (nonprofit)	$15,564
#45	Montclair State University	NJ	Public	$15,566
#46	West Virginia University	WV	Public	$15,634
#47	University of North Texas	TX	Public	$15,649
#48	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	Public	$15,678
#49	East Carolina University	NC	Public	$15,739
#50	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private (nonprofit)	$15,846
#51	Georgia State University	GA	Public	$15,931
#52	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private (nonprofit)	$16,075
#53	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	Public	$16,109
#54	University of Utah	UT	Public	$16,200
#55	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	Public	$16,264
#56	Grand Valley State University	MI	Public	$16,317
#57	Sam Houston State University	TX	Public	$16,404
#58	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	Public	$16,665
#59	University of Arizona	AZ	Public	$16,674
#60	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	Public	$16,778
#61	Texas State University	TX	Public	$16,805
#62	Appalachian State University	NC	Public	$16,836
#63	Colby College	ME	Private (nonprofit)	$17,180
#64	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	Public	$17,303
#65	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	Public	$17,339
#66	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	Public	$17,354
#67	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	Public	$17,447
#68	Mississippi State University	MS	Public	$17,595
#69	Williams College	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$17,716
#70	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	Public	$17,747
#71	University of Delaware	DE	Public	$17,799
#72	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	Public	$17,890
#73	George Mason University	VA	Public	$17,915
#74	University of Kansas	KS	Public	$18,059
#75	University of Arkansas	AR	Public	$18,209
#76	The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	Public	$18,267
#77	Iowa State University	IA	Public	$18,589
#78	Stony Brook University	NY	Public	$18,784
#79	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private (nonprofit)	$18,809
#80	University of Kentucky	KY	Public	$18,851
#81	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	Public	$18,976
#82	Harvard University	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$19,066
#83	Texas Tech University	TX	Public	$19,070
#84	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	Public	$19,151
#85	Illinois State University	IL	Public	$19,398
#86	Oregon State University	OR	Public	$19,604
#87	Michigan State University	MI	Public	$19,680
#88	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	Public	$19,857
#89	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$20,111
#90	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	Public	$20,268
#91	Kent State University at Kent	OH	Public	$20,787
#92	University at Buffalo	NY	Public	$20,995
#93	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	Public	$21,279
#94	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	Public	$21,315
#95	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	Public	$21,565
#96	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$21,590
#97	Boise State University	ID	Public	$21,610
#98	Washington University in St Louis	MO	Private (nonprofit)	$21,786
#99	University of Oregon	OR	Public	$22,182
#100	Clemson University	SC	Public	$22,253
#101	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	Public	$22,383
#102	The University of Alabama	AL	Public	$22,420
#103	Grand Canyon University	AZ	Private (nonprofit)	$22,472
#104	University of Iowa	IA	Public	$22,531
#105	Emory University	GA	Private (nonprofit)	$22,585
#106	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	Public	$22,811
#107	James Madison University	VA	Public	$23,322
#108	Virginia Commonwealth University	VA	Public	$23,433
#109	Trinity University	TX	Private (nonprofit)	$23,464
#110	Yale University	CT	Private (nonprofit)	$23,777
#111	Auburn University	AL	Public	$24,323
#112	Boston University	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$24,402
#113	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	Public	$24,406
#114	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	Public	$24,953
#115	University of Connecticut	CT	Public	$25,097
#116	Brown University	RI	Private (nonprofit)	$25,184
#117	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	Public	$25,346
#118	Carleton College	MN	Private (nonprofit)	$25,407
#119	Wellesley College	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$25,496
#120	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	Public	$25,648
#121	University of Notre Dame	IN	Private (nonprofit)	$26,780
#122	Smith College	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$27,579
#123	Temple University	PA	Public	$28,198
#124	Colorado School of Mines	CO	Public	$28,690
#125	Cornell University	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$28,690
#126	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private (nonprofit)	$28,699
#127	Wake Forest University	NC	Private (nonprofit)	$28,719
#128	Colgate University	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$28,786
#129	Barnard College	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$28,800
#130	Hamilton College	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$28,985
#131	Northwestern University	IL	Private (nonprofit)	$29,167
#132	Liberty University	VA	Private (nonprofit)	$29,357
#133	Dartmouth College	NH	Private (nonprofit)	$29,519
#134	Duke University	NC	Private (nonprofit)	$29,612
#135	Wesleyan University	CT	Private (nonprofit)	$30,177
#136	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA	Public	$30,434
#137	Northeastern University	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$30,915
#138	University of Richmond	VA	Private (nonprofit)	$31,309
#139	Middlebury College	VT	Private (nonprofit)	$31,483
#140	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private (nonprofit)	$31,944
#141	Macalester College	MN	Private (nonprofit)	$32,149
#142	Skidmore College	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$32,297
#143	University of Southern California	CA	Private (nonprofit)	$32,740
#144	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	Public	$32,875
#145	Colorado College	CO	Private (nonprofit)	$33,375
#146	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private (nonprofit)	$35,924
#147	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$36,228
#148	Lehigh University	PA	Private (nonprofit)	$36,931
#149	New York University	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$37,050
#150	University of Miami	FL	Private (nonprofit)	$37,244
#151	Bentley University	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$37,930
#152	College of the Holy Cross	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$38,782
#153	Spelman College	GA	Private (nonprofit)	$38,967
#154	Vassar College	NY	Private (nonprofit)	$39,343
#155	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	Private (nonprofit)	$39,949
#156	Tufts University	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$39,998
#157	Denison University	OH	Private (nonprofit)	$40,007
#158	Babson College	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$40,514
#159	Bucknell University	PA	Private (nonprofit)	$40,766
#160	Georgetown University	DC	Private (nonprofit)	$40,815
#161	Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ	Private (nonprofit)	$41,346
#162	Boston College	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$41,704
#163	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	IN	Private (nonprofit)	$42,513
#164	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	Private (nonprofit)	$43,071
#165	Villanova University	PA	Private (nonprofit)	$43,756
#166	Santa Clara University	CA	Private (nonprofit)	$50,062
#167	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	Private (nonprofit)	$50,507

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Data as of June 2026.

Showing all 167 schools with a reported value. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Public domain (U.S. Government work)), snapshot June 2026. derived figures are explained on the methodology page. Estimates — verify before relying on them.

Frequently asked questions

What is net price (and why use it instead of tuition)?

Net price is the average cost a student actually pays after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted — tuition, fees, room, board and supplies, minus aid. It is usually far below the published sticker price, so it is the fairest single number for comparing college cost.

Are the cheapest-net-price colleges always the best value?

Not necessarily. A low net price is great, but value also depends on graduation rates and graduate earnings. See the best-ROI ranking, which combines earnings with cost.

Other rankings

Last updated: 2026-06-20