Which colleges have the lowest net price after financial aid?

First is College of Biblical Studies-Houston at $672. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is California State University-Fresno at $7,000.

Which colleges are counted and which are left out?

The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,513 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50. 51 colleges in the pool report no average net price. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last. The federal file keeps net price in a public and a private column and never fills both for one college, so each figure here is read from whichever column that college's row actually used.

Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?

No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.

Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?

7 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The 50 colleges with the lowest net price after aid

College of Biblical Studies-Houston reports the lowest average net price of any four-year college in the federal file, at $672 a year. The table below is the 50 lowest of the 1,513 four-year US colleges that report an average net price, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. This is net price, which is what families were actually left to pay after grant aid, not the published tuition beside it. A low net price is not a quality claim and this page makes none.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. Every figure on this page is computed from the federal file when the page is built. See the method below for which colleges are counted and what each number is.

Updated 17 September 2026. Written and maintained by NudgeEssay; how facts on this site are sourced and corrected is on the about page.

The 50 colleges

Ranked on average net price, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. 7 of the 50 have a NudgeEssay page carrying their essay prompts word for word, and those names are links. A dash means the federal file carries no figure for that college, not a zero.

The 50 colleges with the lowest net price after aid
#	College	Where	Average net price	Published tuition
1	College of Biblical Studies-Houston	Houston, TXPrivate nonprofit	$672	$9,350
2	Texas A&M University-Central Texas	Killeen, TXPublic	$1,300	$7,363
3	Talmudical Seminary of Bobov	Brooklyn, NYPrivate nonprofit	$2,840	$13,200
4	CUNY Hunter College	New York, NYPublic	$2,984	$7,382
5	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	New York, NYPublic	$3,033	$7,464
6	CUNY Brooklyn College	Brooklyn, NYPublic	$3,103	$7,452
7	CUNY Lehman College	Bronx, NYPublic	$3,148	$7,410
8	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	New York, NYPublic	$3,203	$7,470
9	Texas A & M International University	Laredo, TXPublic	$3,637	$7,894
10	CUNY City College	New York, NYPublic	$3,776	$7,340
11	Ohio University-Eastern Campus	Saint Clairsville, OHPublic	$3,925	$6,362
12	California State University-Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CAPublic	$3,967	$7,160
13	Indiana University-Kokomo	Kokomo, INPublic	$3,968	$8,424
14	Uta Mesivta of Kiryas Joel	Monroe, NYPrivate nonprofit	$4,156	$16,000
15	CUNY Queens College	Queens, NYPublic	$4,195	$7,538
16	CUNY York College	Jamaica, NYPublic	$4,456	$7,358
17	Be'er Yaakov Talmudic Seminary	Spring Valley, NYPrivate nonprofit	$4,543	$12,300
18	California State University-San Bernardino	San Bernardino, CAPublic	$4,564	$8,093
19	University of Florida-Online	Gainesville, FLPublic	$4,815	$3,876
20	Universidad Central de Bayamon	Bayamón, PRPrivate nonprofit	$4,827	$5,986
21	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Edinburg, TXPublic	$4,831	$9,987
22	Rabbinical Seminary of America	Flushing, NYPrivate nonprofit	$4,844	$10,000
23	Mesivta Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary	Brooklyn, NYPrivate nonprofit	$4,876	$15,200
24	Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus	Portales, NMPublic	$4,904	$7,194
25	Caribbean University-Ponce	Ponce, PRPrivate nonprofit	$4,964	$8,844
26	Dalton State College	Dalton, GAPublic	$5,012	$3,336
27	CUNY New York City College of Technology	Brooklyn, NYPublic	$5,127	$7,332
28	Indiana University-Northwest	Gary, INPublic	$5,130	$8,424
29	Wilberforce University	Wilberforce, OHPrivate nonprofit	$5,567	$16,448
30	College of Staten Island CUNY	Staten Island, NYPublic	$5,579	$7,490
31	Ohio University-Lancaster Campus	Lancaster, OHPublic	$5,650	$6,362
32	California State University-Bakersfield	Bakersfield, CAPublic	$5,652	$8,090
33	Escuela de Artes Plasticas y Diseno de Puerto Rico	San Juan, PRPublic	$5,669	$4,902
34	CUNY Medgar Evers College	Brooklyn, NYPublic	$5,718	$7,352
35	University of Akron Wayne College	Orrville, OHPublic	$6,032	$7,723
36	California State University-Stanislaus	Turlock, CAPublic	$6,067	$8,246
37	Purdue University Northwest	Hammond, INPublic	$6,079	$8,675
38	College of the Ozarks	Point Lookout, MOPrivate nonprofit	$6,100	$22,320
39	Berea College	Berea, KYPrivate nonprofit	$6,106	$51,658
40	Princeton University	Princeton, NJPrivate nonprofit	$6,128	$62,688
41	United States Merchant Marine Academy	Kings Point, NYPublic	$6,174	$895
42	Elizabeth City State University	Elizabeth City, NCPublic	$6,364	$6,536
43	University of North Texas at Dallas	Dallas, TXPublic	$6,420	$9,595
44	Atlantic University	Guaynabo, PRPrivate nonprofit	$6,425	$8,280
45	University of Florida	Gainesville, FLPublic	$6,541	$6,381
46	California State University-Fullerton	Fullerton, CAPublic	$6,555	$7,470
47	University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma	Chickasha, OKPublic	$6,624	$9,000
48	United Talmudical Seminary	Brooklyn, NYPrivate nonprofit	$6,640	$15,000
49	Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College	Tifton, GAPublic	$6,842	$3,268
50	California State University-Fresno	Fresno, CAPublic	$7,000	$7,350

Method

Source: the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17 from the bulk download. Every college in it reports these figures to the US Department of Education itself.

Net price in the College Scorecard is the full cost of attendance, which is tuition, fees, housing, food, books and supplies together, minus every grant and scholarship the student received. It is what a family was actually left to find, from savings, earnings or loans. It is an average over students who received federal aid at that college, not a quote, and your own figure depends on your family finances and on what that college offers you.

Counted: the federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used on this page family. 144 private for-profit institutions are excluded, and 236 reporting fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,513 met this page’s criteria and the table shows the top 50.

51 colleges in the pool report no average net price. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last. The federal file keeps net price in a public and a private column and never fills both for one college, so each figure here is read from whichever column that college's row actually used.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. No admission probability is stated anywhere on this site, because none can be derived from public data: colleges do not publish admit rates conditional on a score, so any single percentage would be invented. The free chance me tool and college finder sort a list into reaches, targets and likelies from the same federal figures and give no percentage either.

The federal file behind this family carries no earnings column, so no list here says anything about what graduates are paid. Rather than estimate one, this site says what is missing. What one named college costs after aid, income band by income band, is on its own page in the cost family. Our own essay dataset, which is a different source, is described on the supplemental essay data page.

Questions

Which colleges have the lowest net price after financial aid?: First is College of Biblical Studies-Houston at $672. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is California State University-Fresno at $7,000.
Where does this ranking come from?: From the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17. Net price in the College Scorecard is the full cost of attendance, which is tuition, fees, housing, food, books and supplies together, minus every grant and scholarship the student received. It is what a family was actually left to find, from savings, earnings or loans. It is an average over students who received federal aid at that college, not a quote, and your own figure depends on your family finances and on what that college offers you. The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted.
Which colleges are counted and which are left out?: The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,513 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50. 51 colleges in the pool report no average net price. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last. The federal file keeps net price in a public and a private column and never fills both for one college, so each figure here is read from whichever column that college's row actually used.
Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?: No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.
Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?: 7 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The other rankings in this set

All computed from the same federal file, pulled on 2026-09-17, with the same pool and the same exclusions.

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