When we decided to look at the most and least expensive public colleges by state, we weren’t ready for some of the odd tidbits of information that came out of our analysis. For instance, there are some major schools that you would expect to see on here like Ohio State or Penn State, but they were no where to be seen.
To us, this report leans towards being more interesting to us than actually useful, but some might find this of use when looking to find the cheapest public bachelors degree in a specific state. It is important to note that this report is using the most recent data the Department of Education has for each school (circa 2017), and that these are all public universities, so you won’t be finding any Ivy League schools in this list. We also only looked at in-state tuition costs, so the typically much higher out-of-state costs are not factored in at all.
Most Expensive Schools
| School Name | Tuition |
| Alabama | University of Montevallo | $12,400 |
| Alaska | University of Alaska Southeast | $6,828 |
| Arizona | University of Arizona | $11,877 |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas | $9,062 |
| California | University of California-Santa Barbara | $14,451 |
| Colorado | Colorado School of Mines | $18,386 |
| Connecticut | University of Connecticut | $14,880 |
| Delaware | University of Delaware | $13,160 |
| District of Columbia | University of the District of Columbia | $5,756 |
| Florida | Florida International University | $6,556 |
| Georgia | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | $12,418 |
| Hawaii | University of Hawaii at Manoa | $11,754 |
| Idaho | University of Idaho | $7,488 |
| Illinois | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | $15,074 |
| Indiana | Indiana University-Bloomington | $10,533 |
| Iowa | University of Iowa | $8,965 |
| Kansas | University of Kansas | $10,824 |
| Kentucky | University of Kentucky | $11,942 |
| Louisiana | Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College | $11,374 |
| Maine | Maine Maritime Academy | $13,278 |
| Maryland | St. Mary's College of Maryland | $14,496 |
| Massachusetts | Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology | $17,450 |
| Michigan | Michigan Technological University | $15,074 |
| Minnesota | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | $14,417 |
| Mississippi | Mississippi State University | $8,318 |
| Missouri | University of Missouri-Columbia | $9,787 |
| Montana | Montana Technological University | $7,125 |
| Nebraska | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | $8,978 |
| Nevada | University of Nevada-Las Vegas | $7,665 |
| New Hampshire | University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | $18,067 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Institute of Technology | $16,898 |
| New Mexico | University of New Mexico-Main Campus | $7,448 |
| New York | University at Buffalo | $9,828 |
| North Carolina | University of North Carolina School of the Arts | $9,338 |
| North Dakota | North Dakota State University-Main Campus | $8,666 |
| Ohio | Miami University-Oxford | $14,958 |
| Oklahoma | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | $11,538 |
| Oregon | University of Oregon | $11,931 |
| Pennsylvania | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | $19,080 |
| Rhode Island | University of Rhode Island | $13,792 |
| South Carolina | Winthrop University | $15,220 |
| South Dakota | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology | $10,400 |
| Tennessee | University of Memphis | $9,317 |
Least Expensive Schools
| School Name | Tuition |
| Alabama | University of South Alabama | $7,812 |
| Alaska | University of Alaska Fairbanks | $6,262 |
| Arizona | Dine College | $1,410 |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas-Fort Smith | $5,577 |
| California | California State University-Fresno | $6,585 |
| Colorado | Colorado Mountain College | $1,840 |
| Connecticut | Charter Oak State College | $7,983 |
| Delaware | Delaware State University | $7,868 |
| District of Columbia | University of the District of Columbia | $5,756 |
| Florida | Broward College | $1,415 |
| Georgia | East Georgia State College | $3,110 |
| Hawaii | University of Hawaii Maui College | $3,158 |
| Idaho | Lewis-Clark State College | $6,334 |
| Illinois | Chicago State University | $10,252 |
| Indiana | Vincennes University | $5,737 |
| Iowa | Iowa State University | $8,636 |
| Kansas | Haskell Indian Nations University | $480 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky State University | $8,184 |
| Louisiana | Southern University at New Orleans | $6,421 |
| Maine | University of Maine at Machias | $7,680 |
| Maryland | University of Maryland-University College | $7,296 |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Maritime Academy | $8,398 |
| Michigan | Schoolcraft College | $3,668 |
| Minnesota | Metropolitan State University | $7,859 |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Valley State University | $6,422 |
| Missouri | Harris-Stowe State University | $5,340 |
| Montana | The University of Montana-Western | $5,502 |
| Nebraska | Wayne State College | $6,848 |
| Nevada | Great Basin College | $3,015 |
| New Hampshire | Granite State College | $7,593 |
| New Jersey | Thomas Edison State University | $7,300 |
| New Mexico | Navajo Technical University | $4,070 |
| New York | United States Merchant Marine Academy | $1,020 |
| North Carolina | Elizabeth City State University | $4,986 |
| North Dakota | Bismarck State College | $3,832 |
| Ohio | Miami University-Middletown | $5,173 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City | $3,836 |
| Oregon | Eastern Oregon University | $8,362 |
| Pennsylvania | Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | $9,987 |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island College | $8,776 |
| South Carolina | University of South Carolina-Aiken | $10,502 |
| South Dakota | Oglala Lakota College | $2,684 |
| Tennessee | Austin Peay State University | $7,913 |
As a followup, we decided to also look at the Most and Least Expensive Private Universities by State.
