United States Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest In State Tution

Below is a college cost ranking of the 633 public colleges in the United States with the lowest in state tution. What is the cheapest college in the United States? Athens State University leads the list with a tuition and fee total of $0. Note these costs do not include room and board or living expenses.

Affordable doesn't simply mean finding a school with a low published price. It's important to research the typical financial aid package offered by a school, the average net price actually paid and most importantly the quality of education you receive for your tuition dollar. Sometimes a school which appears cheap based on list price can be a poor relative value if it can't award competitive financial aid or doesn't offer a quality education. The list below is a ranking on published in state tution with no consideration of actual average price paid or academic quality of the school. Please see the CollegeSimply Best Value Colleges in the United States list for a ranking which considers school quality and average net price.

All price data are reprinted from the U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS 2025 survey and reflect reported costs for academic year 2024/2025.

List of United States Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest In State Tution
College	Tuition In State
The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, Texas	$18,649
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia	$18,744
University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California	$18,864
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon	$18,870
Stockton University Galloway, New Jersey	$18,926
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware	$19,020
Central Connecticut State University New Britain, Connecticut	$19,102
University of Connecticut Hartford Campus Hartford, Connecticut	$19,250
University of Rhode Island Kingston, Rhode Island	$19,254
University of Connecticut Waterbury Campus Waterbury, Connecticut	$19,270
University of Connecticut Avery Point Groton, Connecticut	$19,270
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, Minnesota	$19,280
University of Connecticut Stamford Stamford, Connecticut	$19,290
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Champaign, Illinois	$19,296
Michigan Technological University Houghton, Michigan	$19,449
University of California Berkeley Berkeley, California	$19,548
University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California	$19,682
Western Connecticut State University Danbury, Connecticut	$19,804

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.