The Most (and Least) Cost of College Tuition in The U.S.

Between tuition and textbooks and Mandala tapestries and sugar-free Redbulls, the cost associated with higher education has never been, well, higher. According to the latest data from Visual Capitalist, the price of obtaining a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college institution in the U.S. has soared by more than 1200 percent since 1980. During the 1980 – 1981 academic year, the average cost of private college tuition with fees and room & board was $17,030, while the average cost of public college in-state tuition at a state university with fees and room & board was $7,770.

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Fast-forward to the 2020 – 2021 academic year, the average cost of a private college is $35,087, while public, in-state tuition at a state college is $9,687.

One major reason behind the spike in both private and public school college costs cuts to state funding. “Nearly every state has shifted the responsibility of funding higher education from the state to students over the last 25 years, with the most drastic shift occurring in the past decade,” Michael Mitchell, lead author of the report and senior director and counselor of Equity and Inclusion at the CBPP told CNBC. Other factors include overall cost of living, health care costs, and retirement costs for faculty and staff.

It makes sense, then, that the average cost of college would vary vastly from state to state. In this article, we’ve ranked the most expensive and most affordable colleges. To rank the different states, we considered tuition rates for full-time college students. We included both private and public universities and compared average in-state tuition to average out-of-state tuition.

The 10 States with the Highest Tuition Costs

1. Rhode Island

In-state tuition: $33,230
Out-of-state tuition: $36,601

2. Vermont

In-state tuition: $30,858
Out of state tuition: $34,925

3. Massachusetts

In-state tuition: $29,564
Out-of-state tuition: $31,995

4. Washington, DC

In-state tuition: $27,531
Out-of-state tuition: $28,075

5. Pennsylvania

In-state tuition: $23,618
Out-of-state tuition: $26,088

6. Indiana

Popular schools: Notre Dame, Purdue, and Indiana University
In-state tuition: $22,010
Out-of-state tuition: $25,280

7. New Hampshire

In-state tuition: $21,579
Out-of-state tuition: $26,404

8. Connecticut

Popular schools: Yale
In-state tuition: $20,977
Out-of-state tuition: $27,653

9. Iowa

In-state tuition: $20,208
Out-of-state tuition: $21,453

10. New York

Popular schools: Cornell, NYU, and Columbia
In-state tuition: $19,738
Out-of-state tuition: $21,667

11. Maine

In-state tuition: $18,855
Out-of-state tuition: $22,239

12. Illinois

In-state tuition: $17,489
Out-of-state tuition: $21,049

13. Wisconsin

In-state tuition: $18,855
Out-of-state tuition: $22,239

14. Oregon

In-state tuition: $17,176
Out-of-state tuition: $21,915

14. Ohio

In-state tuition: $17,130
Out-of-state tuition: $19,851

15. Wisconsin

In-state tuition: $17,218
Out-of-state tuition: $19,725

16. Tennessee

In-state tuition: $17,176
Out-of-state tuition: $21,915

17. Tenessee

In-state tuition: $17,015
Out-of-state tuition: $21,080

18. Virginia

In-state tuition: $16,955
Out-of-state tuition: $21,212

19. Minnesota

In-state tuition: $16,570
Out-of-state tuition: $17,547

20. New Jersey

In-state tuition: $16,530
Out-of-state tuition: $19,173

Keep in mind, though some schools might have less-than-affordable tuition prices, they make up for it by offering generous financial aid and scholarships to students. By researching your different options, you can avoid sacrificing your preferences for location, academic programs, and campus life just so you can spend less money on college education.

The 10 States with the Lowest Tuition Costs

1. Wyoming

In-state tuition: $3,468
Out-of-state tuition: $8,927

2. New Mexico

In-state tuition: $6,160
Out-of-state tuition: $9,97

3. North Dakota

In-state tuition: $7,753
Out-of-state tuition: $9,845

4. Montana

In-state tuition: $7,827
Out-of-state tuition: $13,724

5. Mississippi

In-state tuition: $8,547
Out-of-state tuition: $10,814

6. Arkansas

In-state tuition: $9,209
Out-of-state tuition: $11,286

7. Alaska

In-state tuition: $9,286
Out-of-state tuition: $15,359

8. Hawaii

In-state tuition: $9,682
Out-of-state tuition: $14,618

9. Arizona:

Popular schools: University of Arizona and Arizona State
In-state tuition: $9,935
Out-of-state tuition: $15,184

10. Alabama

In-state tuition: $10,633
Out-of-state tuition: $14,623

11. Idaho

In-state tuition: $11,077
Out-of-state tuition: $14,623

12. Oklahoma

In-state tuition: $11,397
Out-of-state tuition: $15,925

13. Louisiana

In-state tuition: $11,801
Out-of-state tuition: $15,631

14. West Virginia

In-state tuition: $11,847
Out-of-state tuition: $15,646

15. Texas

In-state tuition: $12,012
Out-of-state tuition: $15,636

16. South Dakota

In-state tuition: $12,086
Out-of-state tuition: $13,037

17. Nevada

In-state tuition: $12,141
Out-of-state tuition: $16,758

18. North Carolina

In-state tuition: $12,210
Out-of-state tuition: $16,643

19. Utah

In-state tuition: $12,650
Out-of-state tuition: $16,622

20. Kansas

In-state tuition: $12,673
Out-of-state tuition: $14,548