Best Value Colleges in America by Academic Quality per Dollar
These colleges are CollegeCalc's 2020 ranking of the best value colleges in America based on tuition dollar spent. While most of these schools don't have the low published tuition, attractive net prices through generous financial packages combined with academic excellence offer students the highest return on education dollar investment. In order to be considered, schools must possess very high academic standing coupled with costs commensurate to the education provided. University of Washington Seattle Campus leads the list with a 88 academic rank and a $9,443 average net price.
Rating is a CollegeCalc proprietary national percentile ranking of a college's overall difficulty and educational effectiveness. An average score is 50. Dollar value is a measure of a school's academic rating compared with the average net price paid. Colleges which are ranked "n/a" didn't report sufficient data to formulate a score. Learn more about our rating methodology.
All price data are reprinted from the U.S. Department of Education's 2018-2019 IPEDS Survey and reflect reported costs for the 2018-2019 academic year.
| Average Net Price | College | Rating | $Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| $17,030
Average Net Price |
21) Harvard University Massachusetts, Private Not-For-Profit |
99 | 82 |
| $14,496
Average Net Price |
22) State University of New York at New Paltz New York, Public Not-For-Profit |
83 | 82 |
| $16,594
Average Net Price |
23) University of Virginia Main Campus Virginia, Public Not-For-Profit |
97 | 82 |
| $18,178
Average Net Price |
24) University of California Berkeley California, Public Not-For-Profit |
97 | 81 |
| $16,446
Average Net Price |
25) University of California Davis California, Public Not-For-Profit |
91 | 81 |
| $18,427
Average Net Price |
26) Pomona College California, Private Not-For-Profit |
98 | 81 |
| $18,053
Average Net Price |
27) Yale University Connecticut, Private Not-For-Profit |
99 | 81 |
| $16,450
Average Net Price |
28) Florida State University Florida, Public Not-For-Profit |
88 | 81 |
| $16,775
Average Net Price |
29) SUNY at Binghamton New York, Public Not-For-Profit |
90 | 81 |
| $17,415
Average Net Price |
30) College of William and Mary Virginia, Public Not-For-Profit |
93 | 81 |
| $15,910
Average Net Price |
31) University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin, Public Not-For-Profit |
87 | 81 |
| $16,792
Average Net Price |
32) University of California Santa Cruz California, Public Not-For-Profit |
87 | 80 |
| $16,638
Average Net Price |
33) University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Illinois, Public Not-For-Profit |
83 | 80 |
| $17,241
Average Net Price |
34) University of Maryland College Park Maryland, Public Not-For-Profit |
90 | 80 |
| $19,519
Average Net Price |
35) Amherst College Massachusetts, Private Not-For-Profit |
98 | 80 |
| $16,808
Average Net Price |
36) University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minnesota, Public Not-For-Profit |
85 | 80 |
| $16,016
Average Net Price |
37) Rutgers University New Brunswick New Jersey, Public Not-For-Profit |
82 | 80 |
| $16,085
Average Net Price |
38) Virginia Military Institute Virginia, Public Not-For-Profit |
83 | 80 |
| $19,002
Average Net Price |
39) California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo California, Public Not-For-Profit |
91 | 79 |
| $20,361
Average Net Price |
40) Colby College Maine, Private Not-For-Profit |
96 | 79 |
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