BYU No. 3 in most affordable quality schools

BYU No. 3 in most affordable quality schools

(Jaren Wilkey/BYU)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — It's no secret that the cost of a college education has been on the rise for decades. Making matters worse is the always-increasing national student debt, which is set to reach an all-time high this year. Factor in a recent decline in median household income, and paying for a quality college experience starts to feel like an impossible task.

[U.S. College Tuition vs. Median Income Over Time | StartClass](http://college-tuition.startclass.com)
Despite the dire circumstances, there are still viable, affordable options in today's college landscape. Using data from the [National Center for Education Statistics](https://nces.ed.gov/), [StartClass](http://www.startclass.com/) found the 25 least expensive quality universities. Only colleges with an out-of-state tuition of $25,000 or less were included. Schools are ranked according to their [Smart Rating](http://colleges.startclass.com/) score, which is based on financial affordability, career readiness, admissions selectivity, expert opinion and academic excellence. The maximum score a college can have is 100.

Nine colleges in New York made the cut, including Stony Brook University and the University at Buffalo, though none of the nine landed in the top spot. All schools on the list had a Smart Rating of 92 or higher.

Note: Both Berea College and the College of the Ozarks were excluded from the list, since neither school charges tuition. We also excluded the United States Coast Guard from consideration, since the school often reports no dollar amount for its annual tuition. In the event of ties, the school with the lowest out-of-state tuition was ranked higher.

No. 15. University at Buffalo

[University at Buffalo Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2961/University-at-Buffalo)
**Smart Rating:** 93.01 *Out-of-state tuition:* $22,290 *In-state tuition:* $8,870 *Acceptance rate:* 57.8 percent *Average SAT score:* 1725

No. 14. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

[New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2662/New-Mexico-Institute-of-Mining-and-Technology)
**Smart Rating:** 93.05 *Out-of-state tuition:* $18,184 *In-state tuition:* $6,256 *Acceptance rate:* 36.4 percent *Average SAT score:* 1822

No. 13. Thomas Aquinas College

[Thomas Aquinas College Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/619/Thomas-Aquinas-College)
**Smart Rating:** 93.07 *Out-of-state tuition:* $24,500 *In-state tuition:* $24,500 *Acceptance rate:* 82.7 percent *Average SAT score:* 1905

No. 12. James Madison University

[James Madison University Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/4382/James-Madison-University)
**Smart Rating:** 93.08 *Out-of-state tuition:* $24,522 *In-state tuition:* $9,662 *Acceptance rate:* 65.7 percent *Average SAT score:* 1710

No. 11. SUNY College at Geneseo

[SUNY College at Geneseo Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2969/SUNY-College-at-Geneseo)
**Smart Rating:** 93.11 *Out-of-state tuition:* $17,424 *In-state tuition:* $7,774 *Acceptance rate:* 59.1 percent *Average SAT score:* 1830

No. 10. CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College

[CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College Historial Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2753/CUNY-Bernard-M-Baruch-College)
**Smart Rating:** 93.19 *Out-of-state tuition:* $13,371 *In-state tuition:* $6,561 *Acceptance rate:* 27.9 percent *Average SAT score:* 1852

No. 9. University of North Carolina School of the Arts

[University of North Carolina School of the Arts Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/3109/University-of-North-Carolina-School-of-the-Arts)
**Smart Rating:** 93.2 *Out-of-state tuition:* $23,733 *In-state tuition:* $8.363 *Acceptance rate:* 43.2 percent *Average SAT score:* 1675

No. 8. Stony Brook University

[Stony Brook University Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2962/Stony-Brook-University)
**Smart Rating:** 93.21 *Out-of-state tuition:* $21,850 *In-state tuition:* $8,430 *Acceptance rate:* 41.3 percent *Average SAT score:* 1845

No. 7. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

[SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2963/SUNY-College-of-Environmental-Science-and-Forestry)
**Smart Rating:** 93.21 *Out-of-state tuition:* $17,048 *In-state tuition:* $7,398 *Acceptance rate:* 51.1 percent *Average SAT score:* 1777

No. 6. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

[California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/253/California-Polytechnic-State-University-San-Luis-Obispo)
**Smart Rating:** 93.28 *Out-of-state tuition:* $20,078 *In-state tuition:* $8,918 *Acceptance rate:* 30.9 percent *Average SAT score:* 1837

No. 5. North Carolina State University at Raleigh

[North Carolina State University at Raleigh Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/3110/North-Carolina-State-University-at-Raleigh)
**Smart Rating:** 96.4 *Out-of-state tuition:* $23,551 *In-state tuition:* $8,296 *Acceptance rate:* 51.6 percent *Average SAT score:* 1830

No. 4. Florida State University

[Florida State University Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/857/Florida-State-University)
**Smart Rating:** 96.4 *Out-of-state tuition:* $21,673 *In-state tuition:* $6,507 *Acceptance rate:* 55.4 percent *Average SAT score:* 1805

No. 3. Brigham Young University-Provo

[Brigham Young University-Provo Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/4294/Brigham-Young-University-Provo)
**Smart Rating:** 96.96 *Out-of-state tuition:* $5,000 *In-state tuition:* $5,000 *Acceptance rate:* 47 percent *Average SAT score:* 1890

No. 2. SUNY at Binghamton

[SUNY at Binghamton Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2960/SUNY-at-Binghamton)
**Smart Rating:** 96.99 *Out-of-state tuition:* $20,260 *In-state tuition:* $8,620 *Acceptance rate:* 44.1 percent *Average SAT score:* 1915

No. 1. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

[University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Historical Tuition (Real 2015 Dollars) | StartClass](http://colleges.startclass.com/l/2181/University-of-Minnesota-Twin-Cities)
**Smart Rating:** 97.01 *Out-of-state tuition:* $20,810 *In-state tuition:* $13,560 *Acceptance rate:* 45.4 percent *Average SAT score:* 1935

Learn More About Colleges at StartClass

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Nick Selbe, Graphiq

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast