194 colleges where families earning under $30,000 paid an average of under $10,000 a year

The big picture

• In the College Scorecard data we use, 967 four-year colleges with 500 or more undergraduates graduate at least half of their students and report a price for families earning under $30,000. 194 of them (20%) came in under $10,000.
• At half the colleges on the list, these families paid an average of less than $7,197 a year. At 51, the average was under $5,000, and at Washington and Lee University ($28), Brown University ($39) and University of Chicago ($394) it was close to nothing. A price that low means grants covered almost the whole year, including housing and food. Some of these averages come from small groups: only 9 students at Washington and Lee University and 50 at Brown University were in this income band. At 21 colleges on the list, fewer than 30 students were.
• The colleges are in 42 states and Puerto Rico. The most are in CA (28), NY (20), FL (13), MA (10) and NC (10).
• The median graduation rate on the list is 66%. At 75 colleges, fewer than 60% of students finish within six years.

Low price and high graduation rates

A low price matters most if you finish. These are the 20 colleges on the list with the highest six-year graduation rates. 16 of them are private and 4 public.

65 colleges on the list graduate 80% or more of their students. Some admit only a small share of applicants, so check each college's admit rate and SAT or ACT rule for fall 2027, and pair the hardest ones with colleges where your odds are better. Private colleges that report covering all of a family's need are on the colleges that meet 100% of financial need list.

Public universities on the list

132 of the 194 colleges are public. Their prices are for in-state students, so they matter most if you live in that state. Students from another state usually pay more. The public universities with the highest graduation rates:

Check the graduation rate next to the price

Every college here clears our 50% line, but rates still range from 50% at Salish Kootenai College and 3 others to 97% at Harvard University. At 75 of them, fewer than 60% of students finish within six years. A cheap year costs more in the end if it takes six years to finish, or if you leave with debt and no degree. On each college's page here, the After college section shows its graduation rate, median debt and earnings side by side. Check each college's own site for its admission rules, too.

How to check your own price

1. Pick three to five colleges from the table, including one or two public colleges in your state.
2. Open each college's calculator (the last column). Use the same numbers each time: your parents' income from last year's tax return, savings, household size and how many family members will be in college.
3. Compare what's left to pay after grants and scholarships. Leave loans out.
4. When offers come in the spring, check them against your estimates: how to compare aid offers.

The net price calculator guide covers each step and why a calculator's number can differ from the offer you get. To keep prices and admission odds on one list, add the colleges to the planner. It's free and needs no account.

The full table

All 194 colleges, lowest average price first. Each name opens the college's cost page here, with the price for every income band. The last column links to the calculator address each college reports to the federal government. A few go to a general cost page instead, and 3 that didn't open when we checked are left blank. Download the table as a spreadsheet: colleges-under-10000-after-aid.csv. It adds each college's city, whether it's public or private, its number of undergraduates, how many students in this income band the average is based on, its average price across all family incomes, its main type of degree and its College Scorecard page.

How we built this

• Prices and graduation rates come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (the Oct 2026 release, downloaded 31 October 2026). Prices are for 2024-25. Graduation rates are for students who started in 2019 and count those who finished within six years.
• We count four-year colleges with 500 or more undergraduates where at least 50% of students finish within six years: the same rules as our cheapest colleges after aid for families under $30,000 list, which shows the lowest 100. This page has every college under $10,000.
• Calculator links are the addresses colleges report to the federal government (IPEDS). If one is broken, look on the college's financial aid site.
• Chipola College, South Florida State College, Salish Kootenai College, Brigham Young University-Idaho, University of Southern Indiana and SUNY College of Technology at Alfred award mostly associate degrees or certificates, by the College Scorecard's count, though they also offer bachelor's degrees. Their price and graduation rate include those students.
• The CSV is rebuilt from the dataset with every update, and a test fails if the file and the dataset disagree. The data year and the Scorecard's own files are on its data page.