Best Value Colleges in Minnesota
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Minnesota high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 33 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 1.4 years at the fastest to 30.0 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.4 years to repay its net price, 0.2 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (11) have a median payback of 2.7 years against 3.8 years for the 22 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota ranks first at 1.4 years, ahead of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2.0 years) and University of Minnesota-Crookston (2.0 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Minnesota
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Minnesota has 33
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 33 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.4 years | $11,704 | $72,502 | $21,500 | 67% |
| 2 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 4-year | 2.0 years | $16,778 | $71,941 | $19,500 | 85% |
| 3 | University of Minnesota-Crookston Crookston, MN Public · 4-year | 2.0 years | $12,212 | $62,786 | $20,500 | 50% |
| 4 | Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $16,863 | $67,658 | $17,100 | 42% |
| 5 | Concordia University-Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.4 years | $18,462 | $68,250 | $17,832 | 52% |
| 6 | Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN Public · 4-year | 2.5 years | $13,529 | $59,194 | $21,058 | 44% |
| 7 | University of St Thomas (MN) Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $29,155 | $82,136 | $23,250 | 76% |
| 8 | University of Minnesota-Morris Morris, MN Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $8,837 | $51,631 | $18,995 | 62% |
| 9 | University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN Public · 4-year | 2.7 years | $18,743 | $66,056 | $22,024 | 65% |
| 10 | Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN Public · 4-year | 2.7 years | $15,261 | $60,307 | $19,750 | 51% |
| 11 | St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $19,764 | $65,829 | $24,181 | 63% |
| 12 | Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN Public · 4-year | 2.9 years | $19,139 | $64,235 | $21,106 | 54% |
| 13 | The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.9 years | $27,846 | $75,595 | $20,000 | 66% |
| 14 | Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.9 years | $25,672 | $72,829 | $27,000 | 76% |
| 15 | Winona State University Winona, MN Public · 4-year | 3.1 years | $17,503 | $60,533 | $21,500 | 59% |
| 16 | Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $23,873 | $68,350 | $25,347 | 52% |
| 17 | Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $26,939 | $69,987 | $16,000 | 65% |
| 18 | Carleton College Northfield, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $25,407 | $66,841 | $16,750 | 90% |
| 19 | Bethel University (MN) Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $28,556 | $70,633 | $21,500 | 73% |
| 20 | Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN Public · 4-year | 3.6 years | $15,291 | $55,009 | $20,500 | 45% |
| 21 | Hamline University Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $20,744 | $61,017 | $23,770 | 59% |
| 22 | Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.0 years | $22,900 | $61,015 | $26,774 | 76% |
| 23 | College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.1 years | $26,640 | $63,895 | $26,944 | 80% |
| 24 | Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, MN Public · 4-year | 4.2 years | $17,997 | $55,083 | $20,000 | 56% |
| 25 | St Olaf College Northfield, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.2 years | $23,874 | $56,323 | $26,000 | 84% |
| 26 | Concordia College at Moorhead Moorhead, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.3 years | $24,902 | $56,802 | $26,847 | 66% |
| 27 | University of Northwestern-St Paul Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.6 years | $27,705 | $57,471 | $21,325 | 68% |
| 28 | Macalester College Saint Paul, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.2 years | $32,149 | $58,560 | $23,000 | 89% |
| 29 | Martin Luther College New Ulm, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.5 years | $18,463 | $49,182 | $20,177 | 71% |
| 30 | Crown College Saint Bonifacius, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2 years | $26,672 | $50,863 | $22,500 | 54% |
| 31 | Bethany Lutheran College Mankato, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.4 years | $20,148 | $47,456 | $23,000 | 57% |
| 32 | North Central University Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 10.6 years | $25,817 | $47,587 | $23,200 | 65% |
| 33 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minneapolis, MN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 30.0 years | $29,926 | $41,825 | $27,000 | 59% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
Guides worth reading first
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Same list in nearby states
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All 60 colleges in Minnesota See the national version of this ranking