Cheapest Public Colleges After Financial Aid
Sticker prices at public universities hide a wide spread. Net price, the cost of attendance minus the grants and scholarships the average aid recipient receives, is what families actually plan around. At public four-year colleges it runs from $804 a year at the cheapest school to $32,875 at the most expensive.
We ranked 648 public four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and list the cheapest 50. The median across all of them is $13,381, while the school in 50th place sits at $5,012. North Florida College ranks first. California has the most schools on this page, with 12. For context, the typical school here reports graduate earnings of $58,191 four years after completion.
Net price is an average for students who receive federal aid, not a quote. Your own figure depends on family income, residency and the aid you qualify for, so run the school’s net price calculator before deciding. Many public colleges charge out-of-state students far more than the figures shown here.
A good next step is to open two or three profiles from this page and compare their net price by income bracket, since a school that is cheap overall may not be the cheapest for your family.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public 4-year colleges
- Ranked by net price, 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 value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Cost of attendance: tuition, fees, books, housing and other expenses, academic year 2023-24.
- Net price by income: students with family income of $0 to $30,000, 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.
- 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 the top 50 of 648 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | North Florida College Madison, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $804 | $9,265 | $4 | $45,061 | 61% |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas Killeen, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $1,300 | $14,187 | — | $57,267 | — |
| 3 | College of the Mainland Texas City, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,342 | $8,357 | — | $58,013 | 30% |
| 4 | St Petersburg College St. Petersburg, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,471 | $12,885 | — | $54,088 | 38% |
| 5 | Skyline College San Bruno, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,738 | $11,880 | $842 | $59,341 | 43% |
| 6 | South Texas College McAllen, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $1,751 | $9,561 | $1,395 | $40,768 | 27% |
| 7 | West Virginia University at Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,807 | $9,420 | $723 | $47,106 | 20% |
| 8 | Oglala Lakota College Kyle, SD Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,895 | $10,494 | $1,422 | $52,386 | 10% |
| 9 | Victor Valley College Victorville, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $1,947 | $8,974 | $0 | $44,779 | — |
| 10 | Schoolcraft Community College District Livonia, MI Public · 4-year · Open admission | $2,260 | $12,048 | $1,083 | $48,981 | 17% |
| 11 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,779 | $11,162 | $1,896 | $46,731 | 36% |
| 12 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,818 | $11,487 | $1,658 | $46,619 | 28% |
| 13 | Taft College Taft, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $2,823 | $14,074 | $1,934 | $44,555 | 28% |
| 14 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $2,878 | $13,915 | $2,107 | $71,612 | 26% |
| 15 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $2,984 | $13,905 | $1,029 | $73,236 | 59% |
| 16 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,033 | $14,170 | $607 | $82,748 | 72% |
| 17 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | $3,103 | $14,151 | $1,029 | $62,833 | 55% |
| 18 | Haskell Indian Nations University Lawrence, KS Public · 4-year | $3,134 | $9,581 | $3,007 | $38,730 | 31% |
| 19 | Northwest Indian College Bellingham, WA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $3,136 | $10,551 | $2,630 | $49,696 | 22% |
| 20 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,148 | $14,121 | $1,589 | $63,353 | 50% |
| 21 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,203 | $14,212 | $1,073 | $60,020 | 56% |
| 22 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,214 | $9,704 | $2,120 | $53,130 | 34% |
| 23 | Alpena Community College Alpena, MI Public · 4-year · Open admission | $3,320 | $12,246 | $590 | $44,378 | 51% |
| 24 | San Diego Miramar College San Diego, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,337 | $17,126 | $1,358 | $53,936 | — |
| 25 | Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,399 | $12,895 | $2,541 | $57,250 | 12% |
| 26 | Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,637 | $15,558 | $3,097 | $50,288 | 48% |
| 27 | College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,702 | $11,360 | $2,522 | $64,248 | — |
| 28 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,776 | $14,403 | $1,251 | $67,740 | 56% |
| 29 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,815 | $11,576 | $2,594 | $47,615 | 44% |
| 30 | Antelope Valley Community College District Lancaster, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,860 | $12,931 | $3,012 | $46,723 | 33% |
| 31 | South Florida State College Avon Park, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $3,877 | $10,169 | $3,480 | $48,619 | 49% |
| 32 | Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $3,957 | $11,894 | $3,533 | $45,937 | 39% |
| 33 | California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $3,967 | $18,403 | $2,877 | $59,756 | 53% |
| 34 | Indiana University-Kokomo Kokomo, IN Public · 4-year | $3,968 | $11,837 | — | $54,618 | 45% |
| 35 | Trinity Valley Community College Athens, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,092 | $14,467 | $2,338 | $44,266 | 26% |
| 36 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4,128 | $9,323 | $2,563 | $53,224 | 35% |
| 37 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $4,195 | $14,367 | $1,541 | $68,713 | 56% |
| 38 | CUNY York College Jamaica, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $4,456 | $14,330 | $2,861 | $61,389 | 31% |
| 39 | Palo Alto College San Antonio, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,463 | $11,946 | $3,680 | $38,443 | 33% |
| 40 | Northwest Vista College San Antonio, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,525 | $11,932 | $3,178 | $46,909 | 32% |
| 41 | California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $4,564 | $17,427 | $2,681 | $55,441 | 55% |
| 42 | Northwest Florida State College Niceville, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4,571 | $12,914 | $3,683 | $52,556 | 41% |
| 43 | San Antonio College San Antonio, TX Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,585 | $12,343 | $3,842 | $47,341 | 24% |
| 44 | Solano Community College Fairfield, CA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $4,669 | $13,143 | $3,624 | $59,829 | 35% |
| 45 | North Central State College Mansfield, OH Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4,687 | $10,118 | $3,344 | $53,401 | 35% |
| 46 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4,709 | $14,657 | $2,915 | $52,051 | 44% |
| 47 | Grays Harbor College Aberdeen, WA Public · 4-year · Open admission | $4,783 | $15,708 | $2,988 | $46,936 | 35% |
| 48 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $4,831 | $16,830 | $3,785 | $53,888 | 50% |
| 49 | Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | $4,904 | $18,940 | $3,663 | $54,827 | 42% |
| 50 | Dalton State College Dalton, GA Public · 4-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | $5,012 | $12,719 | $3,962 | $52,160 | 28% |
By state
State versions of this ranking:
Cheapest colleges, by state
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.