Best Public Colleges

The majority of students attend a public college in their home state. For many, it’s the most affordable option. If you live in one of the states below, set your sights on these nationally competitive public universities.

Published on May 16, 2022. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, Money/Witlytic calculations.

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College Name	Overall Score	Acceptance rate	Est. full price 2022-23	Est. price with average grant	% of students who get any grants	Graduation rate	Early career earnings
Rank College Name Overall Score
1 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 89.41	89.41	23%	$32,400	$18,800	53%	92%	$75,840
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 86.22	86.22	23%	$25,200	$10,600	53%	89%	$61,920
3 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 86.11	86.11	24%	$36,700	$20,100	48%	94%	$77,050
4 Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay, MA 86.07	86.07	91%	$31,600	$18,600	43%	73%	$91,670
5 University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 85.90	85.90	12%	$37,800	$17,400	72%	91%	$73,740
6 Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA 85.14	85.14	60%	$33,300	$20,000	85%	78%	$71,910
7 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 84.87	84.87	21%	$30,600	$18,400	71%	87%	$88,200
8 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 84.78	84.78	59%	$32,000	$14,300	61%	84%	$71,540
9 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 84.67	84.67	16%	$42,700	$20,400	59%	92%	$80,360
10 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 83.65	83.65	37%	$22,000	$10,600	85%	88%	$64,460
11 University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 83.49	83.49	27%	$37,100	$13,800	69%	83%	$71,960
12 University of California, Davis Davis, CA 83.13	83.13	39%	$38,700	$18,000	69%	86%	$69,770
13 University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA 82.21	82.21	31%	$36,300	$16,100	59%	86%	$74,770
14 New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 81.81	81.81	73%	$39,700	$19,400	69%	65%	$80,040
15 California State University Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA 81.79	81.79	76%	$29,200	$22,200	56%	61%	$91,460
16 Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME 81.45	81.45	45%	$29,500	$19,800	67%	73%	$72,840
17 University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 81.41	81.41	54%	$27,900	$14,800	42%	87%	$65,210
18 California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA 81.39	81.39	39%	$24,900	$11,200	72%	69%	$57,120
19 California State University, Stanislaus Turlock, CA 81.37	81.37	89%	$24,300	$7,800	82%	58%	$53,960
20 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 80.97	80.97	70%	$28,500	$21,400	57%	83%	$73,160
21 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 80.31	80.31	28%	$29,700	$21,600	53%	82%	$80,640
22 University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA 79.77	79.77	52%	$30,100	$10,200	48%	83%	$68,930
23 Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX 79.45	79.45	58%	$32,300	$21,000	62%	82%	$66,570
24 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Pomona, CA 79.35	79.35	55%	$29,000	$15,300	69%	71%	$63,730
25 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 78.95	78.95	58%	$22,900	$7,300	78%	54%	$52,200
26 California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA 78.47	78.47	53%	$29,500	$8,800	68%	68%	$54,590
27 San Jose State University San Jose, CA 78.41	78.41	64%	$29,800	$16,900	60%	65%	$67,370
28 Iowa State University Ames, IA 78.00	78.00	92%	$22,600	$17,000	97%	74%	$57,350
29 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 77.77	77.77	32%	$29,700	$17,800	49%	83%	$67,840
30 The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ 77.44	77.44	49%	$36,500	$26,000	43%	86%	$65,480
31 University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA 77.38	77.38	57%	$36,500	$12,600	91%	74%	$58,880
32 Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO 77.35	77.35	79%	$24,600	$14,200	84%	62%	$80,290
33 California State University, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 76.88	76.88	48%	$29,900	$4,100	86%	48%	$52,000
34 CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College New York, NY 76.68	76.68	43%	$34,700	$4,100	71%	66%	$67,140
35 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 76.44	76.44	57%	$29,600	$18,700	56%	80%	$61,200
36 University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 76.35	76.35	30%	$38,000	$18,200	63%	82%	$66,490
37 California State University, Chico Chico, CA 76.33	76.33	72%	$25,400	$17,000	64%	66%	$56,270
38 California State University, Sacramento Sacramento, CA 76.30	76.30	82%	$28,600	$12,100	72%	51%	$56,810
39 California State University, Dominguez Hills Carson, CA 76.20	76.20	77%	$26,900	$4,900	82%	45%	$47,340
40 California State University, Northridge Northridge, CA 76.07	76.07	59%	$24,000	$9,400	75%	54%	$53,360
41 California State University, San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA 76.06	76.06	69%	$23,200	$9,000	80%	57%	$50,960
42 San Diego State University San Diego, CA 76.00	76.00	34%	$31,100	$13,900	53%	74%	$59,030
43 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL 75.82	75.82	73%	$31,800	$13,300	72%	59%	$59,780
44 Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 75.72	75.72	60%	$23,400	$13,000	50%	81%	$65,260
45 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO 75.68	75.68	53%	$38,200	$29,200	76%	83%	$90,060
46 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 75.64	75.64	74%	$32,200	$18,300	94%	68%	$73,540
47 California State University, East Bay Hayward, CA 75.44	75.44	76%	$28,200	$14,000	68%	48%	$60,920
48 SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, NY 75.39	75.39	74%	$28,100	$19,500	55%	66%	$84,440
49 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 75.15	75.15	71%	$30,000	$17,600	60%	79%	$61,100
50 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 75.03	75.03	49%	$36,100	$23,500	65%	83%	$72,460

Best Public Colleges

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Buzzards Bay, MA

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

Virginia Military Institute

Lexington, VA

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, CA

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Newark, NJ

California State University Maritime Academy

Vallejo, CA

Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, WI

California State University, Long Beach

Long Beach, CA

California State University, Stanislaus

Turlock, CA

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA

University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Seattle, WA

Texas A & M University-College Station

College Station, TX

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA

California State University, Fresno

Fresno, CA

California State University, Fullerton

Fullerton, CA

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

Iowa State University

Ames, IA

The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX

The College of New Jersey

Ewing, NJ

University of California, Riverside

Riverside, CA

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Rolla, MO

California State University, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College

New York, NY

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA

California State University, Chico

Chico, CA

California State University, Sacramento

Sacramento, CA

California State University, Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA

California State University, Northridge