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
Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, Georgia	$10,676
University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, Nebraska	$10,678
State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, New York	$10,678
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, New York	$10,714
University of Nevada Reno Reno, Nevada	$10,726
San Jose State University San Jose, California	$10,736
Austin Peay State University Clarksville, Tennessee	$10,740
University of Houston Houston, Texas	$10,749
Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia	$10,756
Morgan State University Baltimore, Maryland	$10,760
Dickinson State University Dickinson, North Dakota	$10,766
University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, Nebraska	$10,770
Purdue University Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, Indiana	$10,773
University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah	$10,779
Minnesota State University Mankato Mankato, Minnesota	$10,789
Fairmont State University Fairmont, West Virginia	$10,790
Western New Mexico University Silver City, New Mexico	$10,810
South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota	$10,825

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

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