Ranked

888 uS universities with the lowest tuition

Published in-state tuition, lowest first. The sticker price is not what most families pay — the net price by income sits on each university page.

#UniversityIn-stateCost of attendance BorrowPaying downSATAcceptance
841 Sarah Lawrence College Bronxville, New York $66,862 $82,467 40% 83% 1366 62%
842 Denison University Granville, Ohio $67,000 $81,900 51% 80% 1410 17%
843 Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts $67,018 $84,926 44% 80% 1463 36%
844 Southern Methodist University Dallas, Texas $67,040 $85,606 21% 75% 1428 63%
845 University of Rochester Rochester, New York $67,080 $85,962 40% 80% 1488 40%
846 Wellesley College Wellesley, Massachusetts $67,176 $86,290 16% 90% 1520 14%
847 Connecticut College New London, Connecticut $67,242 $84,623 35% 91% 1432 37%
848 Yale University New Haven, Connecticut $67,250 $88,300 5% 86% 1534 4%
849 Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New York $67,290 $85,270 33% 86% 1405 21%
850 Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio $67,366 $87,404 31% 82% 1447 34%
851 Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee $67,498 $89,590 10% 84% 1549 6%
852 Middlebury College Middlebury, Vermont $67,600 $85,880 23% 88% 1508 11%
853 Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina $67,642 $87,499 14% 88% 1475 22%
854 George Washington University Washington, District of Columbia $67,710 $83,856 32% 80% 1433 47%
855 Villanova University Villanova, Pennsylvania $67,776 $84,793 35% 90% 1460 27%
856 Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania $67,812 $83,756 35% 90% 1410 29%
857 Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine $67,832 $85,100 8% 90% 1520 7%
858 Georgetown University Washington, District of Columbia $68,017 $88,741 18% 88% 1487 13%
859 Washington & Lee University Lexington, Virginia $68,045 $87,000 14% 88% 1498 14%
860 Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts $68,080 $86,448 28% 83% 1462 41%
861 Boston University Boston, Massachusetts $68,102 $86,285 23% 82% 1480 11%
862 Macalester College Saint Paul, Minnesota $68,104 $82,991 36% 89% 1440 29%
863 Grinnell College Grinnell, Iowa $68,106 $83,440 13% 89% 1486 15%
864 Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire $68,268 $87,793 12% 87% 1534 5%
865 Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois $68,322 $91,250 17% 87% 1533 8%
866 Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts $68,560 $84,860 5% 81% 1533 8%
867 Harvey Mudd College Claremont, California $68,613 $90,165 33% — 1545 13%
868 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania $68,686 $89,028 10% 84% 1553 5%
869 Duke University Durham, North Carolina $68,758 $87,072 14% 89% 1548 6%
870 Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota $68,892 $84,893 43% 92% 1517 20%
871 Hamilton College Clinton, New York $68,960 $84,230 29% 90% 1506 14%
872 Union College Schenectady, New York $69,039 $84,561 44% 86% 1395 44%
873 Cornell University Ithaca, New York $69,314 $88,140 18% 87% 1535 9%
874 Reed College Portland, Oregon $69,350 $86,376 40% 85% 1437 25%
875 Colby College Waterville, Maine $69,600 $85,420 9% 87% 1501 7%
876 Barnard College New York, New York $69,888 $89,538 26% 87% 1520 9%
877 Pepperdine University Malibu, California $69,918 $93,512 37% 74% 1384 63%
878 Colgate University Hamilton, New York $70,306 $87,070 12% 86% 1508 14%
879 Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut $70,342 $89,020 16% 88% 1501 16%
880 Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts $70,480 $87,640 8% 80% 1533 9%

Questions

Cheapest tuition in the US: which university leads?
Sarah Lawrence College — $66,862 in-state tuition.
Where does this data come from?
The US Department of Education College Scorecard, which publishes what institutions charge, what students borrow and repay, and the test scores of admitted students. Nothing here is estimated — universities without a published figure are left out of the ranking.
Is the cheapest university the best value?
Not necessarily. Price is one half of value; the other is what graduates earn and whether they clear the debt. Each university page links to its earnings and repayment record.
All university data Most expensive Best loan repayment Fewest borrowers Highest SAT Highest acceptance

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard. Universities without a published figure for the ranked measure are not listed.