U.S. State College Profiles: Tuition, Debt & Outcomes (2026 stats)
EDsmart Data publishes national medians and a directory of every state and territory profile—costs, debt, earnings, employment outcomes, and top colleges. See also regional profiles, where the most colleges are, and state top-school comparisons.
TL;DR
EDsmart Data state college profiles cover every U.S. state and territory with College Scorecard tuition, debt, earnings, and employment-outcome benchmarks. National medians: $5,400 in-state tuition, $52,878 earnings at 10 years.
National medians (cross-state)
- EDsmart Data national median in-state tuition (states with data): $5,400
- Median 10-yr earnings (campus medians): $52,878
- Median employment proxy (8 yr): 88.8%
- Total enrollment (sum of states): 14,473,942
All state & territory profiles
| State | Median in-state tuition | Earnings (10 yr) | Working (8 yr) | Median debt | Debt rank (nat / reg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $5,340 | $44,391 | 90.0% | $21,000 | #50 / #12 reg. |
| Alaska | N/A | $50,368 | 82.0% | $19,660 | #44 |
| Arizona | $2,358 | $50,719 | 81.6% | $9,500 | #2 / #1 reg. |
| Arkansas | $4,200 | $44,824 | 90.4% | $11,153 | #11 / #2 reg. |
| California | $1,350 | $65,986 | 90.1% | $11,400 | #15 / #2 reg. |
| Colorado | $5,140 | $52,231 | 88.1% | $11,338 | #13 / #4 reg. |
| Connecticut | $13,928 | $64,209 | 28.2% | $12,541 | #18 / #1 reg. |
| Delaware | $5,445 | $56,868 | 84.1% | $10,500 | #7 / #1 reg. |
| District of Columbia | N/A | $63,066 | 76.7% | $20,000 | #45 |
| Florida | $3,110 | $49,137 | 82.9% | $13,000 | #19 / #3 reg. |
| Georgia | $4,094 | $47,384 | 87.3% | $16,417 | #35 / #9 reg. |
| Hawaii | $3,268 | $52,209 | 82.5% | $11,750 | #16 / #3 reg. |
| Idaho | $5,528 | $47,237 | 89.6% | $10,555 | #8 / #3 reg. |
| Illinois | $4,788 | $57,988 | 92.5% | $10,929 | #10 / #1 reg. |
| Indiana | $6,518 | $51,943 | 91.8% | $16,712 | #36 / #4 reg. |
| Iowa | $6,525 | $55,286 | 94.0% | $14,745 | #29 / #2 reg. |
| Kansas | $4,260 | $53,175 | 91.9% | $11,171 | #12 / #1 reg. |
| Kentucky | $4,728 | $45,500 | 90.2% | $13,521 | #25 / #6 reg. |
| Louisiana | $6,004 | $47,477 | 89.7% | $13,271 | #24 / #5 reg. |
| Maine | $8,888 | $48,653 | 15.0% | $19,328 | #43 / #3 reg. |
| Maryland | $5,166 | $61,797 | 86.0% | $13,000 | #20 / #3 reg. |
| Massachusetts | $6,732 | $63,494 | 21.8% | $21,974 | #51 / #4 reg. |
| Michigan | $5,445 | $55,123 | 91.3% | $13,000 | #21 / #2 reg. |
| Minnesota | $6,249 | $58,680 | 93.4% | $14,746 | #30 / #3 reg. |
| Mississippi | $4,200 | $42,539 | 90.5% | $9,722 | #5 / #1 reg. |
| Missouri | $7,584 | $48,991 | 91.3% | $17,500 | #37 / #4 reg. |
| Montana | $4,897 | $48,666 | 89.9% | $18,354 | #39 / #5 reg. |
| Nebraska | $5,400 | $54,124 | 93.8% | $19,250 | #42 / #6 reg. |
| Nevada | $4,358 | $57,826 | 87.1% | $9,500 | #3 / #1 reg. |
| New Hampshire | $7,200 | $55,836 | 13.2% | $18,525 | #41 / #2 reg. |
| New Jersey | $6,300 | $59,988 | 84.0% | $11,998 | #17 / #2 reg. |
| New Mexico | $2,235 | $41,944 | 82.1% | $11,356 | #14 / #3 reg. |
| New York | $7,340 | $60,386 | 42.9% | $15,215 | #32 / #4 reg. |
| North Carolina | $2,613 | $47,139 | 86.0% | $20,000 | #46 / #10 reg. |
| North Dakota | $6,051 | $54,673 | 93.6% | $18,442 | #40 / #5 reg. |
| Ohio | $7,491 | $52,581 | 91.0% | $14,004 | #28 / #3 reg. |
| Oklahoma | $6,285 | $45,930 | 88.8% | $15,936 | #34 / #4 reg. |
| Oregon | $6,345 | $60,172 | 89.5% | $13,595 | #26 / #4 reg. |
| Pennsylvania | $11,486 | $62,101 | 87.2% | $17,500 | #38 / #5 reg. |
| Puerto Rico | $5,314 | $26,510 | 78.0% | $9,500 | #4 / #1 reg. |
| Rhode Island | N/A | $70,004 | 22.6% | $13,000 | #22 |
| South Carolina | $7,558 | $44,999 | 88.8% | $15,917 | #33 / #8 reg. |
| South Dakota | $8,294 | $51,926 | 94.5% | $23,250 | #52 / #7 reg. |
| Tennessee | $4,998 | $48,480 | 90.5% | $14,825 | #31 / #7 reg. |
| Texas | $3,555 | $54,274 | 89.8% | $10,667 | #9 / #2 reg. |
| Utah | $6,507 | $50,130 | 84.6% | $10,300 | #6 / #2 reg. |
| Vermont | N/A | $59,852 | 32.7% | $20,951 | #49 |
| Virginia | $5,400 | $54,869 | 86.8% | $20,000 | #47 / #11 reg. |
| Washington | $5,356 | $63,538 | 90.2% | $13,653 | #27 / #5 reg. |
| West Virginia | $7,112 | $44,512 | 87.2% | $13,000 | #23 / #4 reg. |
| Wisconsin | $5,112 | $55,173 | 94.1% | $20,492 | #48 / #5 reg. |
| Wyoming | $4,706 | $56,880 | 90.0% | $8,811 | #1 / #1 reg. |
Top school comparisons by state
Three-way side-by-side comparisons of the largest and best-known bachelor's-granting colleges in each state — tuition, debt, graduation, earnings, and admissions.
Data sources
- College Scorecard — costs, debt, earnings, employment proxy, program outcomes
- IPEDS — program completions (nursing, cosmetology, etc.)
- Census ACS — attainment & some-college-no-degree
- BLS OEWS — state workforce wages
- National Student Clearinghouse — SCNC counts (reference)
- Multi-year Scorecard — tuition trends 2015–2024
Known data gaps
- formal job placement: IPEDS Outcome Measures (OM) not downloaded; use Scorecard working-not-enrolled proxy.
- cew state unemployment: No machine-readable CEW state young-grad unemployment; BLS OEWS wages provided instead.
- historical earnings by state: Multi-year earnings series requires Scorecard API pull; tuition trends available 2015–2024.
- program earnings 3yr: Scorecard publishes 1/4/5-year post-completion program earnings; no 3-year field.
FAQ
What are EDsmart Data state college profiles?
EDsmart Data state college profiles aggregate U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard campus data into tuition, net price, debt, earnings, employment-outcome proxies, and top-school rankings for every state and territory—compared to national and regional medians.
Which states have the lowest public college tuition?
EDsmart Data ranks states by median in-state tuition among reporting public campuses. Use the state directory table on this page to sort by tuition, earnings, debt, and debt rank; individual state profiles include peer comparisons and downloadable JSON.
What is the national median college tuition and earnings?
EDsmart Data cross-state medians on this hub show median in-state tuition of $5,400, median 10-year campus earnings of $53K, and a median employment-outcome proxy of 88.8% at eight years after entry. Figures update with each College Scorecard refresh.
Can I download state higher education data?
Yes. Each state profile links to a JSON download with benchmarks, top-college lists, and peer tables. This hub also offers a national summary JSON covering all states and territories in the series.