Cheapest Colleges for Low-Income Families

Four-year colleges ranked by the average net price actually paid by students from families earning under $30,000 a year — total cost minus all grant and scholarship aid (College Scorecard). Sticker price lies: need-blind schools that meet full need can cost a low-income family almost nothing, while a cheap-sticker school with little aid costs more.

College

Students

Admission

Net price

1Princeton UniversityPrinceton, New Jersey5,7095%$41 2Dartmouth CollegeHanover, New Hampshire4,5415%$41 3Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, Maryland5,6936%$428 4CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNew York, New York16,15448%$607 5Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina6,4426%$735 6CUNY Hunter CollegeNew York, New York16,28954%$1,029 7CUNY Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn, New York10,54358%$1,029 8University of Michigan-Ann ArborAnn Arbor, Michigan34,17716%$1,043 9CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeNew York, New York11,59057%$1,073 10Amherst CollegeAmherst, Massachusetts1,9119%$1,086 11CUNY City CollegeNew York, New York12,50560%$1,251 12Smith CollegeNorthampton, Massachusetts2,54421%$1,363 13Indiana University-NorthwestGary, Indiana2,66173%$1,419 14Purdue University NorthwestHammond, Indiana5,67172%$1,432 15University of Florida-OnlineGainesville, Florida4,62761%$1,477 16University of Michigan-FlintFlint, Michigan4,41170%$1,517 17CUNY Queens CollegeQueens, New York12,55064%$1,541 18CUNY Lehman CollegeBronx, New York10,69657%$1,589 19Washington University in St LouisSt. Louis, Missouri7,85712%$1,716 20Northwestern UniversityEvanston, Illinois9,2018%$1,764 21Cornell UniversityIthaca, New York15,9959%$1,776 22University of FloridaGainesville, Florida35,62924%$1,982 23University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina20,75215%$2,004 24University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignChampaign, Illinois36,25842%$2,038 25Michigan Technological UniversityHoughton, Michigan5,95592%$2,045 26Northeastern UniversityBoston, Massachusetts17,3265%$2,264 27Bates CollegeLewiston, Maine1,76013%$2,397 28Wellesley CollegeWellesley, Massachusetts2,30014%$2,546 29Ferris State UniversityBig Rapids, Michigan8,10691%$2,556 30Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights, Kentucky8,24668%$2,603 31California State University-San BernardinoSan Bernardino, California15,02394%$2,681 32CUNY York CollegeJamaica, New York4,34564%$2,861 33California State University-Los AngelesLos Angeles, California19,56291%$2,877 34St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary's City, Maryland1,60369%$2,889 35Texas A&M University-Central TexasKilleen, Texas1,750100%$2,949 36University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park, Maryland30,76045%$2,962 37Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida23,75766%$3,022 38Strayer University-TennesseeNashville, Tennessee1,784—$3,078 39Texas A & M International UniversityLaredo, Texas6,66744%$3,097 40William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia7,05534%$3,106 41Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick, Maine1,8737%$3,145 42California State University-FullertonFullerton, California38,54691%$3,315 43Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee7,2086%$3,414 44Lake Superior State UniversitySault Ste Marie, Michigan1,325—$3,516 45California State University-BakersfieldBakersfield, California8,57794%$3,536 46Eastern New Mexico University-Main CampusPortales, New Mexico3,35792%$3,663 47Indiana University-SoutheastNew Albany, Indiana3,17084%$3,782 48The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburg, Texas28,66694%$3,785 49CUNY New York City College of TechnologyBrooklyn, New York13,58080%$3,810 50College of Staten Island CUNYStaten Island, New York9,65792%$3,903 51Uta Mesivta of Kiryas JoelMonroe, New York2,957—$3,915 52California State University-StanislausTurlock, California8,38598%$3,938 53Dalton State CollegeDalton, Georgia4,553—$3,962 54Colby CollegeWaterville, Maine2,4077%$4,049 55University of South FloridaTampa, Florida37,20743%$4,122 56University of Wisconsin-MadisonMadison, Wisconsin36,90245%$4,200 57Elizabeth City State UniversityElizabeth City, North Carolina1,97564%$4,246 58Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, Massachusetts10,08516%$4,284 59Abraham Baldwin Agricultural CollegeTifton, Georgia3,20876%$4,323 60CUNY Medgar Evers CollegeBrooklyn, New York3,23386%$4,368 61Oakland UniversityRochester Hills, Michigan12,35188%$4,422 62University of Washington-Tacoma CampusTacoma, Washington4,18583%$4,458 63Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, New York8,9734%$4,570 64University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies OnlineManchester, New Hampshire1,157—$4,587 65Indiana University-South BendSouth Bend, Indiana3,93384%$4,637 66Marshall UniversityHuntington, West Virginia7,26696%$4,648 67University of North Texas at DallasDallas, Texas2,87884%$4,713 68University of West FloridaPensacola, Florida9,33058%$4,815 69Pomona CollegeClaremont, California1,6667%$4,841 70Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, Connecticut3,06716%$4,871 71Ohio State University-Main CampusColumbus, Ohio45,63861%$4,885 72California State University-NorthridgeNorthridge, California32,69193%$4,905 73Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale, New York9,55263%$4,933 74Louisiana State University at AlexandriaAlexandria, Louisiana5,63292%$5,008 75Georgetown UniversityWashington, District of Columbia7,56913%$5,064 76University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyBaltimore, Maryland10,70172%$5,087 77Purdue University-Main CampusWest Lafayette, Indiana44,50350%$5,098 78California State University-FresnoFresno, California21,60595%$5,105 79Indiana University-EastRichmond, Indiana2,58967%$5,154 80Southeastern Oklahoma State UniversityDurant, Oklahoma3,01876%$5,193 81Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo, Michigan12,56885%$5,263 82University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, California33,06811%$5,311 83Texas A&M University-VictoriaVictoria, Texas2,51396%$5,317 84Berea CollegeBerea, Kentucky1,51319%$5,428 85University of Washington-Bothell CampusBothell, Washington5,45791%$5,573 86University of TulsaTulsa, Oklahoma2,81362%$5,578 87University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, California33,4759%$5,579 88Louisiana State University-ShreveportShreveport, Louisiana2,15351%$5,680 89Indiana University-IndianapolisIndianapolis, Indiana13,83076%$5,701 90Atlantic UniversityGuaynabo, Puerto Rico1,451—$5,705 91University of Minnesota-CrookstonCrookston, Minnesota1,72988%$5,758 92University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield, Illinois2,26386%$5,778 93University of Central FloridaOrlando, Florida59,14640%$5,816 94Rice UniversityHouston, Texas4,7768%$5,827 95University of Maine at Presque IslePresque Isle, Maine1,913100%$5,934 96Florida State UniversityTallahassee, Florida32,21224%$5,938 97Truman State UniversityKirksville, Missouri2,51384%$6,046 98Southern Utah UniversityCedar City, Utah9,28982%$6,070 99Colgate UniversityHamilton, New York3,18014%$6,086 100California State University-San MarcosSan Marcos, California14,87795%$6,230

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Profile peers of this ranking's top schools that didn't make the list.

College

Students

Admission

Net price

Stanford UniversityStanford, California7,5544%—Brown UniversityProvidence, Rhode Island7,2265%—University of ChicagoChicago, Illinois7,5694%—Yale UniversityNew Haven, Connecticut6,7584%$17,633 Harvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts7,6014%$8,697 University of Notre DameNotre Dame, Indiana8,81811%$7,244 Emory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia7,29811%$7,363

Net price (<$30k income) — computed from the US Department of Education College Scorecard. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates unless noted.