THE BEST COLLEGES IN AMERICA

Best Public Colleges

These nationally competitive public colleges provide an excellent value for in-state students. All score in the top third of our 2023-2024 rating.

Stars	College Name	Acceptance Rate	Est. Full Price 2023-24	Est. Price with Average Grant	Graduation Rate
	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	44%	$30,900	$19,200	81%
	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	33%	$31,100	$22,200	83%
	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Pomona, CA	61%	$29,500	$13,900	76%
	California State University Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA	82%	$28,600	$18,100	68%
	California State University, Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA	85%	$26,100	$7,900	55%
	California State University, Channel Islands Camarillo, CA	93%	$29,200	$15,500	70%
	California State University, Chico Chico, CA	85%	$27,400	$14,700	74%
	California State University, Dominguez Hills Carson, CA	90%	$27,200	$4,800	63%
	California State University, East Bay Hayward, CA	82%	$27,900	$13,500	68%
	California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA	97%	$23,400	$6,800	67%
	California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA	59%	$29,400	$5,300	76%
	California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA	47%	$26,200	$9,800	81%
	California State University, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	91%	$29,300	$2,900	65%
	California State University, Monterey Bay Seaside, CA	93%	$22,500	$6,500	72%
	California State University, Northridge Northridge, CA	88%	$24,300	$9,300	66%
	California State University, Sacramento Sacramento, CA	94%	$29,400	$8,300	68%
	California State University, San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	91%	$26,000	$3,500	67%
	California State University, San Marcos San Marcos, CA	93%	$25,800	$15,300	63%
	California State University, Stanislaus Turlock, CA	95%	$24,700	$7,800	70%
	Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC	86%	$32,200	$20,900	75%
	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	57%	$40,000	$28,100	81%
	CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College New York, NY	51%	$35,700	$4,100	71%
	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	46%	$26,100	$4,900	57%
	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY	45%	$33,300	$5,400	58%
	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	58%	$32,500	$3,500	61%
	Florida International University Miami, FL	64%	$25,100	$10,100	68%
	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	37%	$24,600	$13,600	83%
	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	91%	$32,100	$20,200	74%
	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	16%	$31,200	$18,600	89%
	Illinois State University Normal, IL	92%	$33,700	$22,500	72%
	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	85%	$28,600	$14,300	78%
	Iowa State University Ames, IA	91%	$23,200	$16,500	72%
	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	86%	$30,700	$19,900	84%
	Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME	58%	$30,700	$23,000	71%
	Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay, MA	90%	$31,300	$20,800	79%
	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	83%	$31,200	$9,400	80%
	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI	86%	$33,800	$19,100	70%
	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	85%	$26,100	$14,600	69%
	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	69%	$41,200	$18,100	82%
	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	47%	$26,200	$15,400	81%
	Ohio State University Columbus, OH	57%	$30,400	$20,900	81%
	Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK	68%	$26,000	$15,700	67%
	Purdue University West Lafayette, IN	69%	$23,900	$15,700	79%
	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	68%	$35,800	$12,700	81%
	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	38%	$33,000	$7,400	79%
	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	93%	$28,800	$14,600	67%
	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	84%	$30,800	$15,700	71%
	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	94%	$28,000	$7,600	69%
	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	48%	$30,700	$17,600	75%
	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, NY	65%	$30,800	$23,800	73%
	SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, NY	74%	$29,400	$21,200	74%
	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY	70%	$28,100	$18,900	75%
	SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, NY	77%	$26,600	$11,000	67%
	Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX	54%	$24,100	$5,500	53%
	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	64%	$33,200	$23,900	83%
	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ	62%	$37,600	$14,200	85%
	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	29%	$31,200	$17,800	82%
	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX	65%	$26,900	$10,100	51%
	Towson University Towson, MD	88%	$29,500	$11,900	73%
	Truman State University Kirksville, MO	61%	$23,900	$12,300	74%
	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	14%	$43,500	$18,900	93%
	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	49%	$39,400	$17,800	88%
	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	29%	$38,000	$12,500	86%
	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	11%	$38,000	$14,400	92%
	University of California, Merced Merced, CA	87%	$40,100	$12,400	71%
	University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA	65%	$38,200	$14,500	79%
	University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA	34%	$37,900	$16,800	88%
	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	29%	$39,500	$18,600	85%
	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	36%	$25,200	$12,400	74%
	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	56%	$37,500	$23,800	83%
	University of Delaware Newark, DE	72%	$33,100	$20,500	78%
	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	30%	$22,500	$10,500	87%
	University of Georgia Athens, GA	40%	$29,300	$18,100	85%
	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	79%	$32,700	$11,500	67%
	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	60%	$33,200	$15,300	86%
	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	86%	$27,600	$18,900	72%
	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	81%	$31,100	$7,400	71%
	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	52%	$29,400	$18,400	82%
	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	66%	$34,000	$18,500	80%
	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	20%	$33,800	$20,600	93%
	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	73%	$30,800	$18,700	81%
	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	77%	$30,000	$19,600	71%
	University of New Hampshire Durham, NH	87%	$36,700	$24,000	74%
	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	20%	$26,000	$12,300	90%
	University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX	90%	$25,300	$7,000	52%
	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA	86%	$22,400	$16,300	68%
	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	49%	$25,300	$12,200	73%
	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	95%	$25,400	$13,900	63%
	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	21%	$38,100	$21,900	94%
	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	53%	$32,100	$9,300	84%
	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI	74%	$19,000	$13,800	68%
	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	60%	$28,700	$14,500	87%
	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	64%	$34,800	$19,400	79%
	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	56%	$30,000	$21,600	85%
	Washington State University Pullman, WA	86%	$30,100	$12,700	65%
	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	96%	$27,900	$12,200	72%
	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	37%	$42,600	$19,700	90%

No results match.

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Published June 22, 2023. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, Money/Witlytic calculations.