Tool | January 2013

Kiplinger's Best Values in Public Colleges

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.

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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
1	2	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	31%	77%	$18,609	$6,035	$39,361	$26,787	$17,525
2	4	University of Virginia	VA	33	87	22,645	5,464	48,597	31,416	20,951
3	11	University of Florida	FL	43	59	16,593	8,740	38,870	31,017	16,841
4	6	College of William and Mary	VA	35	85	23,950	11,841	47,724	35,615	20,835
5	10	University of Maryland, College Park	MD	45	66	19,931	12,499	38,310	30,878	24,180
6	7	University of California, Los Angeles	CA	25	68	26,888	10,229	49,766	33,107	18,814
7	30	New College of Florida	FL	56	51	16,181	7,674	39,210	30,703	14,172
8	8	University of California, Berkeley	CA	22	71	29,049	12,835	51,927	35,713	17,116
9	1	SUNY Geneseo	NY	43	69	18,519	14,047	27,769	23,297	21,000
10	15	University of California, San Diego	CA	36	56	26,632	10,157	49,510	33,035	19,936
11	18	University of Michigan	MI	41	73	23,794	11,606	49,922	37,734	27,644
12	3	Binghamton University (SUNY)	NY	41	67	21,091	14,312	30,241	23,462	22,634
13	14	University of Wisconsin�Madison	WI	50	53	19,654	13,430	35,904	29,680	24,140
14	16	University of California, Santa Barbara	CA	46	66	28,374	11,151	51,252	34,029	18,627
15	24	University of Georgia	GA	63	55	19,660	11,511	37,870	29,721	18,569
16	19	University of California, Irvine	CA	47	65	27,528	11,659	50,406	34,537	18,719
17	21	University of Washington	WA	58	54	23,387	10,587	40,942	28,142	20,608
18	32	Texas A&M University	TX	64	50	18,178	8,618	34,708	25,148	22,716
19	13	Truman State University (Mo.)	MO	75	54	15,720	8,950	21,456	14,686	20,777
20	23	James Madison University	VA	60	64	18,314	11,404	32,302	25,392	22,128
21	25	North Carolina State University	NC	52	41	17,202	8,579	30,367	21,744	17,317
22	9	Stony Brook University (SUNY)	NY	39	45	19,304	11,923	29,924	22,543	20,371
23	20	University of California, Davis	CA	46	51	28,982	12,910	51,860	35,788	18,386
24	5	College of New Jersey	NJ	46	73	26,576	16,380	36,728	26,532	32,754
25	22	University of Connecticut	CT	47	68	23,472	15,604	41,304	33,436	23,822
26	33	Florida State University	FL	58	50	17,028	13,249	32,195	28,416	22,139
27	41	University of Texas at Austin	TX	47	53	21,640	13,681	44,978	37,019	25,227
28	35	Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State Univ.	VA	67	56	19,277	12,666	34,269	27,658	24,320
29	26	University of Delaware	DE	58	65	23,528	16,143	40,618	33,233	31,002
30	48	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	51	31	20,534	10,485	39,838	29,789	23,427
31	36	Univ. of North Carolina School of the Arts	NC	42	54	16,838	9,434	29,983	22,579	22,173
32	43	University of North Carolina at Wilmington	NC	53	44	16,794	11,473	28,897	23,576	23,481
33	27	University at Buffalo (SUNY)	NY	53	47	20,333	15,197	30,953	25,817	16,010
34	39	Clemson University	SC	60	54	22,088	17,667	39,016	34,595	25,826
35	50	University of South Carolina	SC	63	51	19,925	14,648	37,081	31,804	24,837
36	42	Appalachian State University (N.C.)	NC	62	38	13,129	5,903	24,977	17,751	17,155
37	37	Ohio State University	OH	63	51	21,134	13,247	36,542	28,655	24,840
38	17	University of Pittsburgh (Pa.)	PA	58	61	27,592	20,229	37,282	29,919	26,612
39	64	Indiana University, Bloomington	IN	72	50	19,734	10,519	41,184	31,969	28,434
40	34	Cal. Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo	CA	37	31	21,437	18,468	32,597	29,628	NA
41	28	St. Mary's College of Maryland	MD	61	72	27,078	17,733	39,878	30,533	23,834
42	69	University of Central Florida	FL	45	34	16,750	10,903	32,848	27,001	20,624
43	38	University of Illinois at Urbana�Champaign	IL	68	66	26,492	14,988	40,634	29,130	22,975
44	29	SUNY New Paltz	NY	40	49	18,142	13,577	27,392	22,827	31,278
45	12	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	MN	47	47	22,871	14,784	28,121	20,034	28,407
46	66	Michigan State University	MI	73	48	22,125	13,504	42,082	33,461	23,725
47	47	Miami University (Ohio)	OH	74	70	25,629	20,166	41,193	35,730	27,178
48	31	Pennylvania State Univ. at University Park	PA	52	63	27,702	21,240	40,004	33,542	33,530
49	72	University of Iowa	IA	80	47	18,317	11,714	36,539	29,936	27,480
50	40	Rutgers, State Univ. of N.J., New Brunswick	NJ	61	53	26,035	16,026	39,355	29,346	33,761
51	68	Purdue University	IN	69	38	21,648	11,432	40,450	30,234	27,286
52	63	University of North Carolina at Asheville	NC	68	33	14,450	8,521	28,272	22,343	16,252
53	52	University of Mary Washington (Va.)	VA	76	63	19,970	13,130	32,284	25,444	23,800
54	58	University of California, Santa Cruz	CA	68	50	29,679	13,088	52,557	35,966	19,851
55	76	University of Alabama	AL	44	38	18,950	11,505	32,700	25,255	26,714
56	71	George Mason University	VA	53	41	19,990	13,123	38,134	31,267	23,506
57	56	University of South Florida	FL	38	25	16,294	9,653	26,217	19,576	21,784
58	53	Colorado School of Mines	CO	45	40	25,576	18,713	40,606	33,743	29,662
59	45	SUNY Oneonta	NY	43	53	18,119	12,799	27,369	22,049	13,697
60	84	University of Texas at Dallas	TX	53	41	21,842	13,816	39,516	31,490	16,813
61	77	Auburn University (Ala.)	AL	70	36	19,790	13,057	34,382	27,649	24,778
62	49	University of Massachusetts�Amherst	MA	66	52	24,725	15,222	38,140	28,637	26,893
63	67	University of Vermont	VT	75	58	26,548	11,959	46,876	32,287	27,725
64	94	University of North Florida	FL	49	23	15,625	9,788	30,084	24,247	16,572
65	78	University of Arkansas	AR	61	34	17,504	10,608	28,384	21,488	23,111
66	74	University of Missouri�Columbia	MO	82	45	19,131	11,693	33,240	25,802	23,588
67	44	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	47	61	25,714	16,780	34,194	25,260	30,053
68	82	College of Charleston (S.C.)	SC	74	52	21,546	18,530	36,932	33,916	26,024
69	90	University of Tennessee	TN	70	34	19,336	16,103	37,826	34,593	20,926
70	79	University of Oklahoma	OK	82	36	18,288	12,368	29,925	24,005	23,845
71	57	West Chester University of Pennsylvania	PA	47	43	18,042	13,009	27,868	22,835	27,689
72	55	Salisbury University (Md.)	MD	53	46	18,620	13,687	26,966	22,033	20,693
73	65	University of Wisconsin�La Crosse	WI	76	33	15,055	9,342	22,628	16,915	23,034
74	70	Western Washington University	WA	78	40	19,228	11,296	29,575	21,643	18,969
75	87	University of Nebraska�Lincoln	NE	59	32	18,069	10,738	30,819	23,488	21,604
76	54	SUNY Cortland	NY	41	46	19,371	14,179	28,621	23,429	26,303
77	73	San Diego State University (Cal.)	CA	33	30	21,845	12,645	33,005	23,805	16,400
78	61	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	MD	61	34	20,604	13,378	28,419	21,193	20,921
79	88	New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Tech.	NM	70	23	13,538	7,959	24,408	18,829	17,765
80	60	Purchase College (SUNY)	NY	34	44	19,225	13,148	28,275	22,198	25,812
81	51	University at Albany (SUNY)	NY	51	53	20,001	13,457	27,811	21,267	23,039
82	80	California State University, Long Beach	CA	30	12	19,688	13,687	30,848	24,847	12,401
83	59	SUNY Brockport	NY	46	44	18,821	13,404	28,071	22,654	26,785
84	81	Towson University	MD	54	39	19,550	11,800	31,172	23,422	22,072
85	86	Iowa State University	IA	86	33	16,490	9,770	28,602	21,882	29,455
86	46	University of Minnesota, Morris	MN	69	48	20,874	11,819	20,874	11,819	22,802
87	62	Christopher Newport University (Va.)	VA	59	46	21,441	16,357	30,991	25,907	22,411
88	98	University of Colorado at Boulder	CO	87	40	23,012	15,423	44,908	37,319	22,683
89	92	California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona	CA	55	13	19,738	10,092	30,898	21,252	16,815
90	100	Louisiana State University	LA	80	31	18,707	9,733	33,983	25,009	20,337
91	89	University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma	OK	27	26	11,760	4,599	19,080	11,919	17,757
92	93	University of California, Riverside	CA	69	42	27,960	11,569	50,838	34,447	21,828
93	95	Oklahoma State University	OK	82	35	15,569	8,803	27,584	20,818	21,204
94	85	Rutgers, State Univ. of N.J., Newark	NJ	58	36	26,375	16,169	39,695	29,489	25,274
95	83	University of Northern Iowa	IA	56	37	16,286	12,059	25,372	21,145	23,575
96	97	North Georgia College & State University	GA	53	28	14,382	9,650	26,658	21,926	10,128
97	75	University of New Hampshire	NH	74	64	27,386	23,431	39,846	35,891	34,194
98	99	University of Oregon	OR	73	41	20,940	15,123	40,290	34,473	22,736
99	91	Massachusetts College of Art and Design	MA	64	43	24,650	17,980	41,750	35,080	NA
100	96	Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology	MO	90	21	19,202	12,296	33,518	26,612	21,700

Cost Data - through November 15, 2012. NA - Information not available. * - Percentage of 2011-12 freshman class that scored 600 or higher on verbal/math SATs or 24 or higher on ACT. SOURCE - Peterson's Undergraduate Database. Copyright © 2012 Peterson's/Nelnet LLC. All rights reserved.

All States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

All Schools
Appalachian State University
Auburn University
Binghamton University (SUNY)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State University, Long Beach
Christopher Newport University
Clemson University
College of Charleston
College of New Jersey
College of William and Mary
Colorado School of Mines
Florida State University
George Mason University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Indiana University, Bloomington
Iowa State University
James Madison University
Louisiana State University
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Miami University (Ohio)
Michigan State University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
New College of Florida
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
North Carolina State University
North Georgia College & State University
Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Pennylvania State University at University Park
Purchase College (SUNY)
Purdue University
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Rutgers, State Univ. of N.J., New Brunswick
Rutgers, State Univ. of N.J., Newark
Salisbury University
San Diego State University
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Stony Brook University (SUNY)
SUNY Brockport
SUNY Cortland
SUNY Geneseo
SUNY New Paltz
SUNY Oneonta
Texas A&M University
Towson University
Truman State University
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
University at Albany (SUNY)
University at Buffalo (SUNY)
University of Alabama
University of Arkansas
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Central Florida
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Delaware
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Mary Washington
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota, Morris
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina at Asheville
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
University of North Florida
University of Northern Iowa
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Tennessee
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Western Washington University

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Tool | January 2013

Kiplinger's Best Values in Public Colleges