Best Colleges / Best Value Colleges

Best Value Colleges 2026

Top public universities offering the best combination of academic quality and accessibility.

1

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA · Public

1492

46% win

2

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA · Public

1651

80% win

3

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI · Public

1539

57% win

4

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA · Public

1557

63% win

5

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Urbana, IL · Public

1528

55% win

6

Ohio State University

Columbus, OH · Public

1438

25% win

7

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA · Public

1352

20% win

8

University of Washington

Seattle, WA · Public

1504

50% win

9

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, NJ · Public

1470

45% win

10

University of New Hampshire

Durham, NH · Public

1474

44% win

11

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX · Public

1587

73% win

12

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA · Public

1564

64% win

13

University of Missouri

Columbia, MO · Public

1431

25% win

14

Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN · Public

1546

56% win

15

University of California, Riverside

Riverside, CA · Public

1469

40% win

16

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Fairbanks, AK · Public

1410

0% win

17

University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA · Public

1384

24% win

18

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, LA · Public

1507

55% win

19

University of Montana

Missoula, MT · Public

1511

50% win

20

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN · Public

1619

76% win

21

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL · Public

1594

64% win

22

University of Nevada, Reno

Reno, NV · Public

1455

29% win

23

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA · Public

1486

44% win

24

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA · Public

1552

62% win

25

Iowa State University

Ames, IA · Public

1537

67% win

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