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Alabama
Courtesy of Auburn University
Auburn University
Overall rank: 206
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $30,300
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $19,100
Average student debt: $22,250
Early career earnings: $49,000
With an undergraduate population of about 21,700, Auburn isn’t among the largest colleges in our rankings (or even in its state), but a long-time annual tradition known as Hey Day makes it feel even smaller. Students, faculty, and staff all wear nametags and are encouraged to say “hey” to anyone they see on campus. Full profile.
Arizona
Courtesy of Arizona State
Arizona State University
Overall rank: 154
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $25,600
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $15,500
Average student debt: $20,375
Early career earnings: $48,900
Popular majors at Arizona State include business, liberal arts, engineering, and the sciences, but the university is also a leader in testing new models for higher education, including blending traditionally separate academic disciplines. Full profile.
Arkansas
University of Arkansas
Matt Reynolds/Courtesy of University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
Overall rank: 469
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $24,000
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $18,700
Average student debt: $21,524
Early career earnings: $47,400
Students at the University of Arkansas can choose from 78 different majors, and the college has especially strong options for those interested in agriculture, architecture, and engineering. The most notable campus landmark is the Senior Walk—three miles of sidewalks engraved with the name of every graduate since the school was founded in the 1870s. Full profile.
California
University of California Berkeley
Virginia Yeh—Courtesy of University of California Berkeley
University of California-Berkeley
Overall rank: 5
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $35,700
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $25,300
Average student debt: $14,667
Early career earnings: $60,300
UC-Berkeley, or Cal for short, ranks the highest of eight University of California system schools that made MONEY’s rankings. In fact, Cal is one of the most selective public colleges in country. More than 90% of freshmen graduate within six years, a rate well above even other elite public universities. Full profile.
Colorado
Courtesy of Colorado School of Mining
Colorado School of Mines
Overall rank: 139
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $32,700
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $23,800
Average student debt: $26,025
Early career earnings: $65,600
Colorado School of Mines is a small public university focused on engineering and applied sciences. Recent graduates do extremely well in the workforce, earning an average salary that tops peers from other schools by roughly 25%. Full profile.
Connecticut
Michael Marsland—Yale University
Yale University
Overall rank: 12
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $66,600
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $22,000
Average student debt: $12,000
Early career earnings: $58,800
Like its fellow high-ranking Ivy League peers, Princeton and Harvard, Yale is highly selective. But for students who are admitted, the college promises a very generous financial aid package and courses taught by some of the world’s most extraordinary academics. Full profile.
Delaware
University of Delaware
Evan Krape—Courtesy of University of Delaware
University of Delaware
Overall rank: 54
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $27,300
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $19,300
Average student debt: $24,127
Early career earnings: $50,700
The University of Delaware helped invent the modern system of collegiate study abroad, when a UD professor created a year-long program in France in 1923. Today, about 40% of Blue Hens take advantage of that opportunity, a high percentage for research universities. Full profile.
Florida
University of Florida
Ray Carson— Courtesy of University of Florida
University of Florida
Overall rank: 15
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $21,400
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $15,500
Average student debt: $15,133
Early career earnings: $49,700
The University of Florida is one of the biggest bargains in higher education, with tuition of just $6,300 a year for Floridians. For that low price, students get access to some of the world’s top professors, well-respected programs in fields as diverse as astronomy and journalism, and sports teams that often dominate their leagues. Full profile.
Georgia
Raftermen Photography—Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Overall rank: 35
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $25,700
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $17,700
Average student debt: $22,750
Early career earnings: $63,800
For in-state students, Georgia Tech provides a low-cost, technology-focused curriculum that can compete with the most elite private tech schools. The typical student has SAT scores in the 700s for each section, and undergraduate classes are known to be demanding. Full profile.
Hawaii
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Courtesy of University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Overall rank: 396
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $27,900
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $19,500
Average student debt: $19,509
Early career earnings: $43,900
Hawaii’s flagship university includes the School of Hawaiian Knowledge, the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, and the School of Pacific and Asian Studies, allowing students to take advantage of its prime location for studying subjects such as Asian and Pacific cultures, tropical agriculture and medicine, ocean and marine science, volcanology, and international business. Full profile.
Idaho
University of Idaho
Joe Pallen—Courtesy of University of Idaho
University of Idaho
Overall rank: 198
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $20,400
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $15,700
Average student debt: $25,000
Early career earnings: $46,400
The university’s 124 majors cover all the traditional subject areas, as well as a solid selection of programs focused on natural resources, including fire ecology and management, forest resources, natural resource conservation, and renewable materials. That’s perhaps unsurprising judging from U of I’s location in the Palouse hills of northern Idaho, where outdoor activities such as skiing, biking, climbing, and whitewater rafting are popular. Full profile.
Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign_IL
Jason Lindsey—Courtesy of University of Illnois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Overall rank: 22
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $30,800
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $22,100
Average student debt: $20,950
Early career earnings: $56,800
Illinois’s flagship university is among the top 15 public schools on the National Science Foundation’s list of high research spenders, and its strongest academic programs include accounting, several types of engineering, and physics. Students also have access to the country’s second largest university library system (only Harvard’s is larger). Full profile.
Indiana
Stephen Allen
Earlham College
Overall rank: 28
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $56,700
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $24,700
Average student debt: $27,000
Early career earnings: $45,600
This small liberal arts college prides itself on exposing students to international culture. About 20% of students come from one of the 80 foreign countries represented at the school, and Earlham offers courses in 11 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and Swahili. More than two-thirds of students also study abroad at some point in their college career. Full profile.
Iowa
160807_50State_IowaStateUniversity_IA
Alamy Stock Photo—Alamy Stock Photo
Iowa State University
Overall rank: 132
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $19,800
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $13,800
Average student debt: $25,250
Early career earnings: $50,200
Iowa State has an excellent agricultural college (no surprise there). But the university also has outstanding math and science departments, and boasts a unique research center devoted to studying virtual reality. Full profile.
Kansas
Tommy Theis—Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Overall rank: 330
Estimated price for 2016-17 without aid: $23,200
Estimated price for 2016-17 with average aid: $18,200
Average student debt: $22,500
Early career earnings: $48,400
Kansas State’s proximity to Fort Riley, its work in military research, and its flexible offerings for soldiers and their families give the school a military flavor that runs through its more than 250 undergraduate majors. Full profile.
