Find out which states offer the most affordable in-state college tuition

Although you probably know that attending a public four-year college is less expensive than attending a private college, you may not be aware of how different each state is.

Furthermore, there is a big difference between in-state tuition and out-of-state tuition — that is, students residing in the state where their public college is located have to pay less for tuition than students who come from out of state.

According to 2024-2025 school year data collected by the College Board, Florida, North Carolina, Utah and Wyoming offered the least expensive in-state tuition, with an average cost of between $6,360 and $8,000 per year.

Meanwhile, the four states with the most expensive in-state tuition exceeded $17,000 annually: Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont.

What is the cost of tuition fees within the country?

Nationally, in-state tuition for a public four-year university will cost $11,610 annually on average in 2024-25, down 10% from five years ago, according to College Board data.

After adjusting for inflation, average in-state tuition has risen in only five states since 2019-2020. Most states recorded a decline in education costs. The state that decreased the most, by 21%, was Georgia. Eighteen states saw in-state tuition costs decrease by at least 10%.

What is the cost of education outside the country?

Nationally, out-of-state tuition for a four-year public university will cost $30,780 per year on average in 2024-2025.

So, nationally, on average, out-of-state tuition at four-year public universities costs nearly three times as much as in-state tuition.

Michigan has the most expensive out-of-state tuition, averaging $42,280 per year. It also has the second-largest out-of-state premium — meaning an out-of-state student must pay $26,360 more per year to attend a public college than an in-state student. California has the largest single out-of-state premium at $26,820.

However, in North Dakota and South Dakota, the difference between average in-state tuition and out-of-state tuition is very low, at $4,320 per year and $3,550 per year, respectively. So in these two states, out-of-state students pay roughly the same amount (give or take a few thousand dollars a year) as in-state students. These states are also the least expensive for out-of-state students nationwide, averaging $14,790 (North Dakota) and $12,740 (South Dakota).