Most Affordable Colleges for Low-Income Families
The overall net price averages families of every income. For a household earning between $0 and $30,000 the number can look completely different, because need-based grants cover a far larger share of the bill. This list ranks four-year colleges by the average net price paid by students in that lowest income bracket.
Of the 1,526 four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and a reported figure for this bracket, we show the 50 with the lowest cost. The median is $14,133 a year and the cheapest is $4. The 50th school is at $2,603. North Florida College leads, and New York places the most schools, 10. Across all qualifying schools the typical overall net price is $19,498.
Income brackets are based on family income reported on financial aid applications, and only students who received federal aid are counted, so small brackets can be noisy. A very low number often reflects generous institutional aid at a school that admits few students, so check admission rates too.
If your family is in this bracket, also file the FAFSA early and look at each school’s Pell share in the table, which hints at how much need-based aid the school is used to handling.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by net price, $0–30k income, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported net price, $0–30k income value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Net price by income: students with family income of $0 to $30,000, academic year 2023-24.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Pell share: undergraduates receiving Pell Grants, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 1,526 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | North Florida College Madison, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4 | $804 | 39% | 61% | $45,061 |
| 2 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $41 | $6,128 | 19% | 97% | $108,590 |
| 3 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH Private nonprofit · 4-year | $41 | $29,519 | 14% | 96% | $111,883 |
| 4 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | $428 | $18,809 | 19% | 94% | $117,419 |
| 5 | Alpena Community College Alpena, MI Public · 4-year · Open admission | $590 | $3,320 | 22% | 51% | $44,378 |
| 6 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $607 | $3,033 | 57% | 72% | $82,748 |
| 7 | West Virginia University at Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV Public · 4-year · Open admission | $723 | $1,807 | 33% | 20% | $47,106 |
| 8 | Duke University Durham, NC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $735 | $29,612 | 14% | 96% | $115,722 |
| 9 | Skyline College San Bruno, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $842 | $1,738 | 10% | 43% | $59,341 |
| 10 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,029 | $2,984 | 56% | 59% | $73,236 |
| 11 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | $1,029 | $3,103 | 57% | 55% | $62,833 |
| 12 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 4-year | $1,043 | $13,138 | 18% | 93% | $96,159 |
| 13 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,073 | $3,203 | 60% | 56% | $60,020 |
| 14 | Schoolcraft Community College District Livonia, MI Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,083 | $2,260 | 28% | 17% | $48,981 |
| 15 | Amherst College Amherst, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,086 | $23,367 | 20% | 94% | $79,243 |
| 16 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,251 | $3,776 | 61% | 56% | $67,740 |
| 17 | San Diego Miramar College San Diego, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,358 | $3,337 | 12% | — | $53,936 |
| 18 | Smith College Northampton, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,363 | $27,579 | 18% | 89% | $57,618 |
| 19 | South Texas College McAllen, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,395 | $1,751 | 39% | 27% | $40,768 |
| 20 | Indiana University-Northwest Gary, IN Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,419 | $5,130 | 43% | 37% | $59,535 |
| 21 | Oglala Lakota College Kyle, SD Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,422 | $1,895 | 47% | 10% | $52,386 |
| 22 | Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,432 | $6,079 | 28% | 43% | $73,337 |
| 23 | University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI Public · 4-year | $1,517 | $7,007 | 39% | 42% | $65,600 |
| 24 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,541 | $4,195 | 47% | 56% | $68,713 |
| 25 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,589 | $3,148 | 60% | 50% | $63,353 |
| 26 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,658 | $2,818 | 32% | 28% | $46,619 |
| 27 | University of Minnesota-Morris Morris, MN Public · 4-year | $1,694 | $8,837 | 33% | 62% | $51,631 |
| 28 | Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,716 | $21,786 | 18% | 94% | $95,899 |
| 29 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,764 | $29,167 | 19% | 96% | $109,275 |
| 30 | United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY Public · 4-year | $1,773 | $6,174 | 8% | 81% | $92,950 |
| 31 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,776 | $28,690 | 18% | 95% | $113,372 |
| 32 | Talmudical Seminary of Bobov Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $1,852 | $2,840 | 97% | 41% | $20,372 |
| 33 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,896 | $2,779 | 26% | 36% | $46,731 |
| 34 | Taft College Taft, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,934 | $2,823 | 24% | 28% | $44,555 |
| 35 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 4-year | $1,982 | $6,541 | 22% | 91% | $77,321 |
| 36 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 4-year | $2,004 | $11,655 | 20% | 92% | $81,033 |
| 37 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4-year | $2,038 | $14,355 | 23% | 85% | $79,628 |
| 38 | Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI Public · 4-year | $2,045 | $14,182 | 20% | 68% | $84,560 |
| 39 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $2,107 | $2,878 | 36% | 26% | $71,612 |
| 40 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,120 | $3,214 | 24% | 34% | $53,130 |
| 41 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $2,264 | $30,915 | 12% | 90% | $101,903 |
| 42 | Trinity Valley Community College Athens, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,338 | $4,092 | 30% | 26% | $44,266 |
| 43 | Bates College Lewiston, ME Private nonprofit · 4-year | $2,397 | $29,351 | 12% | 90% | $70,028 |
| 44 | College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,522 | $3,702 | 18% | — | $64,248 |
| 45 | Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,541 | $3,399 | 33% | 12% | $57,250 |
| 46 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA Private nonprofit · 4-year | $2,546 | $25,496 | 21% | 91% | $72,449 |
| 47 | Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI Public · 4-year | $2,556 | $8,624 | 34% | 47% | $64,721 |
| 48 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $2,563 | $4,128 | 37% | 35% | $53,224 |
| 49 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,594 | $3,815 | 34% | 44% | $47,615 |
| 50 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 4-year | $2,603 | $8,191 | 25% | 50% | $58,429 |
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.