25 Most Affordable Colleges (Photos)
These are the colleges where you’re most likely to leave with a diploma instead a mountain of debt.
The Daily Beast
College is expensive, but between parental help and the two-thirds of students who receive financial aid, students rarely pay the full sticker price. To find the most affordable schools in the nation, The Daily Beast compared institutions based on the average net price students paid after need-based aid, which accounted for 80 percent of the final ranking. We figured the other 20 percent by looking at the six-year graduation rate of each school and disqualified any school with less than a 75 percent graduation rate.
Quinn Ryan/The Daily Beast
#25
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
6-Year Graduation Rate: 79%
Average net price: $15,844
David R. Frazier Photolibrary, Inc. / Alamy
#24
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 91%
Average net price: $16,178
David Schmitz/University of California-Berkeley
#23
University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
6-Year Graduation Rate: 76%
Average net price: $15,498
Sally McCay/University of Vermont
#22
University of Mary Washington
Fredericksburg, Virginia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 76%
Average net price: $15,218
Norm Shafer/University of Mary Washington
#21
Cooper Union
New York, New York
6-Year Graduation Rate: 81%
Average net price: $15,374
Mario Morgado/Cooper Union for Advancement of Science and Art
#20
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
6-Year Graduation Rate: 75%
Average net price: $15,031
Bill Lax/Florida State University
#19
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
6-Year Graduation Rate: 82%
Average net price: $15,317
Bryce Richter/University of Wisconsin-Madison
#18
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 81%
Average net price: $14,877
Gregory Urquiaga/University of California-Davis
#17
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware
6-Year Graduation Rate: 80%
Average net price: $14,748
Evan Krape/University of Delaware
#16
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 92%
Average net price: $14,857
Stephanie Diani/University of California-Los Angeles
#15
Soka University of America
Aliso Viejo, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 92%
Average net price: $14,772
Soka University of America
#14
University of Maryland-College Park
College Park, Maryland
6-Year Graduation Rate: 82%
Average net price: $14,402
John T. Consoli/University of Maryland-College Park
#13
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 80%
Average net price: $14,029
James Madison University
#12
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
6-Year Graduation Rate: 97%
Average net price: $14,445
Darren McCollester/Newsmakers
#11
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
6-Year Graduation Rate: 79%
Average net price: $13,836
Harley J Seeley/Michigan State University
#10
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
6-Year Graduation Rate: 85%
Average net price: $13,619
Ray Carson/University of Florida
#9
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 86%
Average net price: $13,408
John Durant/University of California-San Diego
#8
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 80%
Average net price: $13,144
University of California-Santa Barbara
#7
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 90%
Average net price: $13,246
Stephen Salpukas/The College of William and Mary
#6
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 81%
Average net price: $12,674
Georgia/Collegiate Images
#5
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California
6-Year Graduation Rate: 86%
Average net price: $12,856
Michelle S. Kim/University Communications
#4
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 93%
Average net price: $12,672
Sanjay Suchak/University of Virginia
#3
Indiana University Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana
6-Year Graduation Rate: 75%
Average net price: $10,899
Archive Image/Alamy
#2
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
6-Year Graduation Rate: 89%
Average net price: $11,092
Dan Sears/University of North Carolina
#1
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia
6-Year Graduation Rate: 79%
Average net price: $9,116
Ethan Trewhitt/Georgia Institute of Technology
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