The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or graduate school search.
Going to a public school in your home state is typically a safe way to keep college costs low. At some schools, in-state tuition and fees are just a few thousand dollars, making the cost of a year of education similar to the price of a two-week vacation abroad.
At Bismarck State College, tuition and fees for in-state students for the 2014-2015 school year is just $4,222. The North Dakota school charged in-state students the lowest tuition and fees of any of the 413 ranked public institutions that submitted data to U.S. News.
[Learn about tools that give you a tailored estimate of what you’ll pay for college.]
Most of the 10 schools with low in-state tuition and fees for 2014-2015 are regional colleges and universities, such as Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, which charges $4,497, and Utah’s Weber State University, which costs $5,126. Regional Universities offer a full range of undergraduate programs and a few graduate-level programs. Regional Colleges also focus on undergraduate education, but they grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.
Among all of the schools on the list, average in-state tuition and fees is $4,893 — a slight increase from the average of $4,876 for the 2013-2014 cheapest public schools. For all 413 schools that submitted data for 2014-2015, the average is $8,794.
[Find out where in-state students have high tuition.]
Out of all the schools that submitted data to U.S. News, the University of Pittsburgh charges in-state students the most: $17,772. The federal military academies, which ask for postgraduation service in lieu of charging tuition, were not included in this list.
Below is a list of the 10 public schools where in-state students will pay the least for the 2014-2015 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (name) (state) | 2014-2015 in-state tuition and fees | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|
| Bismarck State College (ND) | $4,222 | 69 (tie), Regional Colleges (Midwest) |
| Fort Hays State University (KS) | $4,469 | RNP*, Regional Universities (Midwest) |
| Elizabeth City State University (NC) | $4,497 | 29 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) |
| University of Wyoming | $4,646 | 161 (tie), National Universities |
| Northeastern State University (OK) | $4,994 | 84 (tie), Regional Universities (West) |
| Fayetteville State University (NC) | $5,035 | RNP, Regional Universities (South) |
| Weber State University (UT) | $5,126 | 68 (tie), Regional Universities (West) |
| University of North Carolina–Pembroke | $5,287 | 87 (tie), Regional Universities (South) |
| Louisiana State University–Alexandria | $5,315 | RNP, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Cameron University (OK) | $5,340 | RNP, Regional Universities (West) |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition and fees data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2014 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The tuition and fees data above are correct as of Nov. 4, 2014.
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10 Cheapest Public Schools for In-State Students originally appeared on usnews.com