The 20 Most Affordable Colleges with High Four-year Graduation Rates

Best Choice Schools ^ | 11/21/2014 | BCS Staff

[crusher]

BTTT from a proud GCC double alum papa. Both daughters loved GCC and graduated suma cum laude. One became a PhD & college physics prof (at 26) and the other an MLS & library branch manager at (also at 26). You gotta love a college where the two main social organisms are 1) study groups, and 2) Bible study groups.

[chopperman]

GCC has a high graduation rate because they’re selective. The low tuition gets parents attention. They have low tuition because they stay out of debt. GCC would not take me with my high school grades but Penn St would. My PSU grades were good so I was able to transfer in after two years. Let me tell you, GCC is a lot tougher than PSU.

[octex]

Nice list, but only the top three have annual tuition rates under $30K per year. Is this what they call affordable now?
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I noticed the schools were ranked based on out-of-state tuition and there was no mention of in-state tuition. It seems that most of the schools listed were oriented toward Liberal Arts instead of viable careers offered by schools like Cal Tech and Rice. ...........The tuition costs in the article are outrageous.

I had several co-worker parents that, together, purchased a condo near Texas A&M for their kids to live in while attending school there. When the kids graduated, they would sell the condo to other parents of students. Saved a lot regarding the dorm and food expenses charged by the schools.

I earned my BBA (’73 & age 31) at a TX state school, NTSU (now UNT). Tuition for 15 hours per semester was $121 and additional courses were free. Though there were some dorms there, the school in Denton TX was primarily a commuter school. ...I have no idea what out-of-state tuition was back then. .....I subsequently attended a private university in Dallas and paid tuition of $400 for each 3 hour course in the MBA program (48 hours = $6400).