MIT is the No. 1 Bang for Your Buck college for the Northeast, according to Washington Monthly.
BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Washington Monthly also ranks the Best Bang for the Buck colleges for helping non wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices. These are broken down into five different geographic regions in the United States.
The 15 highest Best Bang schools for each region are shown in the table below.
25 Best Bang for the Buck Colleges By Region |
|||||
Rank |
Northeast |
Southeast |
South |
Midwest |
West |
| 1 | MA Institute of Technology (MA) | Florida International University (FL) | Berea College (KY) | University of Illinois–Chicago (IL) |
CA State University–Los Angeles (CA)
|
| 2 | Princeton University (NJ) | University of Central Florida (FL) | Univ. of TX–Rio Grande Valley (TX) | College of the Ozarks (MO) |
CA State University–Northridge (CA)
|
| 3 | Boricua College (NY) | New College of Florida (FL) | University of Texas–El Paso (TX) | Northwestern University (IL) |
Brigham Young University (UT)
|
| 4 | CUNY Baruch College (NY) | Duke University (NC) | Rice University (TX) | University of Chicago (IL) |
CA State University–Long Beach (CA)
|
| 5 | CUNY John Jay Col. Crim. Just. (NY) | Florida Atlantic University (FL) | University of Houston (TX) | Univ. of IL–Urbana-Champaign (IL) |
California State Univ.–Fullerton (CA)
|
| 6 | CUNY Lehman College (NY) | University of Florida (FL) | Vanderbilt University (TN) | Washington Univ. in St. Louis (MO) |
Stanford University (CA)
|
| 7 | CUNY Hunter College (NY) | Davidson College (NC) | Univ. of Houston–Downtown (TX) | Carleton College (MN) |
CA State Univ.–Dominguez Hills (CA)
|
| 8 | Amherst College (MA) | University of South Florida (FL) | Texas A&M–San Antonio (TX) | University of Notre Dame (IN) |
CA State University–Fresno (CA)
|
| 9 | Williams College (MA) | Univ. of Florida–Online (FL) | University of Texas–San Antonio (TX) | Metropolitan State University (MN) |
CA State University–Sacramento (CA)
|
| 10 | CUNY Brooklyn College (NY) | Georgia State University (GA) | Texas A&M International Univ. (TX) | Grinnell College (IA) |
CA State Univ.–San Bernardino (CA)
|
| 11 | CUNY City College (NY) | Rasmussen University–Florida (FL)° | University of the Cumberlands (KY) | University of MN–Morris (MN) |
CA State University–Stanislaus (CA)
|
| 12 | Columbia Univ. in the City of NY (NY) | University of NC–Greensboro (NC) | University of North TX–Dallas (TX) | University of MI–Ann Arbor (MI) |
Brigham Young University–ID (ID)
|
| 13 | Yale University (CT) | Florida State University (FL) | University of Texas–Arlington (TX) | University of WI–Madison (WI) |
California Institute of Tech. (CA)
|
| 14 | Harvard University (MA) | University of NC–Chapel Hill (NC) | University of North Texas (TX) | University of MN–Twin Cities (MN) |
Western Governors University (UT)
|
| 15 | Johns Hopkins University (MD) | Georgetown University (DC) | Northeastern State University (OK) | Macalester College (MN) |
University of CA–Berkeley (CA)
|
| 16 | Haverford College (PA) | George Mason University (VA) | Mississippi Univ. for Women (MS) | Michigan State University (MI) |
CA State Poly. Univ.–Pomona (CA)
|
| 17 | Cornell University (NY) | Washington and Lee University (VA) | Univ. of Houston–Clear Lake (TX) | Northeastern Illinois University (IL) |
CA State University–Bakersfield (CA)
|
| 18 | Brown University (RI) | University of North Florida (FL) | Texas A&M–College Station (TX) | St. Olaf College (MN) |
Pomona College (CA)
|
| 19 | University of Pennsylvania (PA) | Winston-Salem State University (NC) | Texas A&M–Texarkana (TX) | Governors State University (IL) |
University of WA–Tacoma (WA)
|
| 20 | Wellesley College (MA) | Salem College (NC) | Sam Houston State University (TX) | Indiana University–Bloomington (IN) |
Harvey Mudd College (CA)
|
| 21 | Dartmouth College (NH) | Univ. of NC–Pembroke (NC) | Texas State Univ.–San Marcos (TX) | National Louis University (IL) |
University of California–Davis (CA)
|
| 22 | Swarthmore College (PA) | Elizabeth City State University (NC) | Paul Quinn College (TX) | Ohio State University–Main (OH) |
Claremont McKenna College (CA)
|
| 23 | CUNY Queens College (NY) | William & Mary (VA) | Le Moyne-Owen College (TN) | Purdue University Global (IN) |
Arizona State University (AZ)
|
| 24 | Rutgers University–Newark (NJ) | Kennesaw State University (GA) | University of Texas–Austin (TX) | Albion College (MI) |
San Francisco State University (CA)
|
| 25 | Bowdoin College (ME) | Fayetteville State University (NC) | Texas Woman’s University (TX) | Drury U. Coll. Cont. Prof. Studies (MO) |
University of California–Irvine (CA)
|
| Full ranking | Northeast | Southeast | South | Midwest | West |
Find Washington Monthly’s full 2025 ranking package here.
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