10 Online Colleges With the Most Affordable Bachelor’s Degrees

It’s now possible to get a college degree entirely online — and in many cases, for much less than you would pay to attend school in person. The average cost of tuition and fees at a ranked in-state public college is currently $9,687, and that number goes up to $21,184 for an out-of-state public college, U.S. News reported. It costs even more to attend a private college — an average of $35,087 for the 2020-2021 academic year.

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If those numbers are beyond your budget and you don’t want to spend decades saddled with student loan debt, there are more affordable options for earning your bachelor’s degree. OnlineU has identified 10 online colleges that have tuition rates under $7,000.

Read on to see where you could land a degree for less than you may have thought.

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• Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
• Annual tuition: $6,540

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• Location: Salt Lake City
• Annual tuition: $6,450

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• Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Annual tuition: $6,298

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• Location: Portales, New Mexico
• Annual tuition: $6,114

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• Location: Cullowhee, North Carolina
• Annual tuition: $5,670

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• Location: Statesboro, Georgia
• Annual tuition: $5,646

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• Location: Kennesaw, Georgia
• Annual tuition: $5,562

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• Location: Valdosta, Georgia
• Annual tuition: $5,463

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• Location: Morrow, Georgia
• Annual tuition: $5,079

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• Location: Pembroke, North Carolina
• Annual tuition: $5,067

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Methodology: Colleges were sourced from OnlineU’s ranking of Most Affordable Online Bachelor’s Degrees. To be eligible for the ranking, schools needed to have regional or national accreditation and offer at least 10 fully online degrees at the specified degree level with programs that cover at least three general subject areas. Data for tuition and degree information was collected from official school websites, reflecting data for the 2020-2021 school year. In cases where schools offer a standard tuition rate across most programs at the specified degree level, the standard tuition rate was used. Otherwise, the tuition reflects the lowest tuition rate available at the specified degree level. Out-of-state tuition was used unless in-state tuition was offered to all online students. Tuition was calculated assuming full-time status. Unless otherwise indicated, bachelor’s programs were assumed to require four years to complete. Schools with programs that require some on-campus coursework were still considered for the ranking if the amount of in-person work required was limited to less than two weeks.