Best Online Colleges & Universities

Only Non-Profit Schools, No For-Profits

One of the most important factors for schools is whether they are for-profit or non-profit. Traditionally, schools are non-profit. Your local high school, as well as the major public universities in your state, are non-profit institutions. Many high-quality private schools, including some of the top institutions in academia, are non-profit schools.

For-profit schools are institutions where the primary purpose is to generate income and profits for owners and investors. While non-profit schools use proceeds to improve educational experience and degree options, for-profit schools serve to generate income for owners and investors. Essentially, they are businesses. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but many for-profit colleges use questionable practices, dubious marketing, and lack transparency. They often have fewer job placement and career resources. In addition, students at for-profit schools, especially non-accredited programs, are not eligible for government grants and federal student loans, further increasing the cost of tuition.

Accredited Schools ONLY

Accreditation is an essential part of the academic process. To create a database of reliable, high-quality degrees, we only include programs from schools that hold institutional accreditation. You’ll find the cheapest online college for bachelor’s degree programs in our database. In fact, you’ll find an entire list of inexpensive online colleges that have been reviewed and approved by accrediting groups such as the Higher Learning Commission and the New England Commission of Higher Education.

Degrees Must be Delivered At Least 80% Online

The other main qualification (after institutional accreditation) is that the program must be at least 80% online. While most of the programs in our database are 100% online, they must be at least 80% remote for inclusion in our database. This ensures that all programs meet the needs of online learners.

Schools Cannot Pay to Be On or Off the Rankings

Our goal is to give you, the future student, the most honest, trustworthy, comprehensive, and consistent rankings possible. Therefore, we do not accept payments from colleges and universities who want to be in the rankings or (just as importantly) left off our ranking list.

We have one of the most searched databases in the entire globe, and schools would love to be on the list so they can bring in more online students. Many would love to pay us for the privilege, but we do not accept payments to arbitrarily place schools on our list or move them in the rankings.

Likewise, some schools would prefer to be left off. Schools with high tuition costs in particular would prefer to keep overall costs hidden (or, at least, hard to find) for as long as possible. However, we do not allow schools to pay us; if we have the information, we use it in our rankings.

No Subjective Ranking Factors

We only use ranking factors that we can measure and calculate. Specifically, we only look at tuition costs and fees so we can create a reliable, accurate depiction. Our rankings leave out all other factors, especially subjective, opinion-based ones.

Factors like “prestige” and “education quality” are not part of our rankings. These factors cannot be measured and are based almost entirely on someone’s opinion. “Prestige,” for instance, is virtually impossible to measure and has no impact on the value, cost, quality, or experience of a student.

Meticulously Researched by ONE Metric: Total Cost

Students searching for the cheapest online colleges often have one factor in mind: cost. To maintain consistency, and to ensure future students get the information they need, we only use total cost to create our rankings.

No Surprises: We Calculate Fees into Tuition Cost

Colleges and universities do their best to deliver clear, accurate estimates for the overall cost of attendance. They are not trying to deceive students, but there are often fees and other expenses that, while not part of the stated tuition, drive up the semester bill.

Book expenses are one of the most common and costly. For many students, books cost well over $300 each semester. There may also be technology fees, fees for wellness services (even if you don’t use them), and transportation and parking fees.

As much as possible, we work these fees into our total calculations. (You’ll notice that our rankings are based on “cost,” not tuition. This is because the total cost of attending school goes far beyond tuition.)

The MOST Comprehensive, Accurate, Up-to-Date Database

First of all, our database is comprehensive. We make significant efforts to include as many degrees as possible. Schools are consistently adding new programs or changing their degree offerings; our database team monitors these changes and adds to the database accordingly.

It’s also accurate. We review our databases to ensure they align with the current offerings from accredited institutions.

Finally, the database is up to date. If we find that a school has removed a degree or program, we quickly change our database so the information is fresh and current. This all results in the most reliable, timely, current database of affordable online colleges you can find.

Our database is like a garden. We trim, feed, monitor, prune, and constantly make adjustments so it’s healthy and vibrant.

To help you find the cheapest online college for your exact needs, we use a meticulous, refined system to ensure our database is current and reliable.

1. Multi-Month Research Process for Each Rank

Affordable online colleges offer many different degrees, and some have various pricing structures depending on the student. For example, there are often different tuition prices for in-state and out-of-state students.To ensure we have all the right data, our team goes through a meticulous research process for each and every ranking page on our site. We don’t spend a few days or a few weeks, we spend months researching each rank so it’s ready to deliver effective, comprehensive information.

2. Team Reviews Tuition for Each Degree

Team Reviews Tuition for Each Degree: The main purpose of our ranking is to deliver reliable information on inexpensive online colleges. This means pricing, above all other factors, is the single most important metric. Before publishing our database, our expert team reviews each degree’s tuition to ensure it’s accurate and up-to-date. This is essential, as pricing constantly changes. The comprehensive review of tuition and other pricing factors is critical for creating our trustworthy database.

3. We Research and Add Degrees Continually

Just like pricing, degrees change. We continually add or remove degrees as needed. Schools are regularly updating their program offerings, so we keep an eye on the various departments and modify our database accordingly.Our database does not remain the same for long. As cheap online colleges add programs, we expand our database. As schools remove programs, we remove the information from our database.

4. For-Profit Schools Taken Out

For-profit schools may serve a specific purpose in the education industry, and some can deliver effective, useful, high-quality learning. However, to ensure our database is comprised of only the best affordable online schools, we take for-profit schools out of our database.

5. Tuition and Total Cost is Calculated

Once we have all the basic information on an affordable online university, meticulously calculate total tuition, add in fees, and estimate the cost. To calculate total tuition, we consider per-credit-hour pricing from the online school, which can be different for in-state and out-of-state, as well as veterans, who often receive a pricing discount.

6. Finally, the Ranks are Published

Once all this painstaking, detailed research is complete, the information has been organized, for-profit schools have been removed, and the total cost is calculated, we are finally ready to publish our ranks.But, as we have discussed, we don’t just publish them and leave them alone; they are constantly reviewed, refreshed, and updated so degree seekers can find the cheapest online university for their specific needs.

Determining a price for cheap online schools is not simple. Schools need to consider numerous factors, including the cost of instructors, maintaining technology, expenses for accreditation services, and whether or not they receive taxpayer funding. It’s complicated, but here are some of the main factors that drive pricing for an affordable online college:

Private vs Public

Online affordable colleges, just like traditional in-person universities, come in two basic types: private and public. Generally (but certainly not always) a public school, which receives direct taxpayer support, is more affordable than a private school. As you browse our databases, you’ll see that most of the cheapest online degrees often come from public schools.

Non-Profit vs For-Profit

All public schools are non-profit institutions. Private schools, however, can be divided into non-profit and for-profit colleges.

The vast majority of well-known private schools in the United States, including major names like Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Duke, and the University of Southern California, are non-profit institutions.

While there is overlap in pricing, for-profit colleges tend to be more expensive. They often have higher tuition and additional fees, making them more expensive, especially from a per-semester-hour perspective. Affordable online universities are often private non-profit schools.

(With for-profit colleges, there is also a concern with academic quality, which is one of the main reasons we leave them off our rankings of the cheapest online colleges.)

In-State vs Out-of-State Tuition

Some public colleges offer the same tuition for in-state and out-of-state students. However, many public colleges offer lower prices for in-state residents. For example, Utah Valley University offers its Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Science in Marketing to Utah residents for $24,040. Non-Utah residents pay over $68,000 for the degree.

Note: This difference is for public colleges only. Private schools typically charge the same fee for all students regardless of residency.

Location of Institution

The location of the institution can make a difference. This is connected to in-state vs out-of-state tuition, but your total costs could be impacted if travel to the school is required. Some of the programs in our database of affordable online degrees require some in-person attendance; if the college is far from your home you may pay more for travel and lodging.

Accreditation

Universities do not pay to be accredited. However, there is an indirect cost to becoming eligible for accreditation. Colleges have to prepare for accreditation, research the organization’s standards, and make changes to ensure their school and individual programs are ready for accreditation. All of this enhances educational quality, but also increases the cost of maintaining a school; as schools inevitably filter these costs down to students.

Accreditation may increase costs (slightly), but it’s an essential part of the educational process. Unaccredited programs may be a bit more costly, but the quality and legitimacy of the degree could be in question.

If a college is expensive, does that mean it’s better? If it’s one of the cheapest online colleges, does that mean educational quality is low? With so many factors, it’s hard to say for certain, but one aspect is clear: even the cheapest colleges online can deliver excellent educations.

In addition, there is little to no evidence suggesting that high tuition means a high-quality education.

The Harvard Business Review looked at a study of recent graduates from “higher-ranked universities” and universities with a lower rank. (Not pricing, but ranking.) The study wanted to see if there was an increase in overall business performance if organizations hire graduates from elite (and, we can safely assume, high-priced) colleges. The results essentially found that hiring graduates from top universities brings a limited benefit. Essentially, they concluded that hiring the “right” job candidate is more important than hiring a candidate from an elite school.

This study did not directly connect price and education quality, but by looking at school prestige and business performance, it sheds some light on the topic. With the available information, no one can say that an elite or expensive university is automatically better than the cheapest accredited online college.

Another interesting study performed by MBA holder Ricardo Figueroa found that the most important factor for post-graduation income is the field of study, not the college you attend. His study found that lower admission rates are connected to higher incomes, but tuition price was not mentioned as a notable factor.

While data is limited, it seems the cheapest online universities are perfectly capable of delivering high-quality degrees.

Cheap colleges online still provide an excellent education. Hard-working graduates can find affordable options, especially when they use our rankings, which use data-driven research to rank the top online affordable colleges.

Our methodology is meticulous yet simple. We take our time, reviewing tuition and fees to make sure all information is accurate and complete. As we research and add degrees, we make sure all data is up-to-date. For-profit schools are taken out, and total cost is used as the main ranking factor. We don’t use subjective factors, like reputation and prestige, in our rankings of the cheapest online degrees.

There are many factors to consider when you are searching for the best cheap online college. You should consider public vs private, profit vs non-profit, and in-state or out-of-state tuition. Perhaps most importantly, you should consider whether a school is accredited.

Quality schools are often expensive, but little data indicates that high-cost schools are inherently superior. The cheapest university online, therefore, may be perfect for your future!