Cost is often a major consideration when choosing a college. And with tuition rates continuing to rise every year — not to mention all the other expenses related to attendance — many would-be students are unable to afford a university education. That’s even more of a concern this year as lots of people deal with financial struggles caused by significant inflation.
Community colleges offer students the ability to get higher education without having as much financial strain. During the 2024 to 2025 academic year, tuition and fees for full-time, in-state enrollment at a public two-year college averaged $4,050 per year versus $11,610 at a public four-year institution and $43,350 at a four-year private school. Students who earn their general-education credits at a community college before transferring to an in-state public four-year university can potentially save a lot of money.
Other than serving as an affordable, and in some cases free, option for education, community colleges have a number of attractive qualities. They often provide more flexible schedules, smaller class sizes and rigorous coursework. Some even go beyond two-year programs to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees. These qualities appeal especially to students who need to balance their studies with other commitments, such as family and work.
Individual community colleges, however, vary in quality and affordability. To determine where students can receive the best education at the lowest price, WalletHub compared more than 650 community colleges across 18 key indicators of cost and quality. Our data set ranges from the cost of in-state tuition and fees to student-faculty ratio to graduation rate.
Best Community Colleges in 2025
- State Technical College of Missouri
- Manhattan Area Technical College
- Pratt Community College
- Woodland Community College
- De Anza College
We also conducted a state-level analysis of the Best & Worst Community College Systems.
Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst
Main Findings
Best Community Colleges in the U.S.
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that community college, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.
- Lowest
- 1. Tohono O'odham Community College (AZ)
- 2. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (NM)
- 3. Barstow Community College (CA)
- 4. Taft College (CA)
- 5. Woodland Community College (CA)
- Highest
- 649. Sauk Valley Community College (IL)
- 650. Triton College (IL)
- T-651. Joliet Junior College (IL)
- T-651. Kankakee Community College (IL)
- T-651. Community College of Beaver County (PA)
- Highest
- T-1. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (NM)
- T-1. Leech Lake Tribal College (MN)
- T-1. CUNY Stella and Charles Guttman Community College (NY)
- T-1. Chief Dull Knife College (MT)
- T-1. Little Big Horn College (MT)
- Lowest
- 649. Ranger College (TX)
- 650. Snead State Community College (AL)
- 651. Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (KY)
- 652. Frontier Community College (IL)
- 653. Eastern Gateway Community College (OH)
- Lowest
- 1. Pamlico Community College (NC)
- 2. Montgomery Community College (NC)
- T-3. Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (MI)
- T-3. River Valley Community College (NH)
- T-5. Southeast Arkansas College (AR)
- T-5. Durham Technical Community College (NC)
- Highest
- 649. Berkeley City College (CA)
- T-650. College of Alameda (CA)
- T-650. Blinn College District (TX)
- T-650. Cerritos College (CA)
- T-650. San Joaquin Delta College (CA)
- Highest
- 1. State Technical College of Missouri (MO)
- 2. Stanly Community College (NC)
- 3. Mitchell Technical College (SD)
- 4. De Anza College (CA)
- 5. Manhattan Area Technical College (KS)
- Lowest
- T-648. Northland Pioneer College (AZ)
- T-648. Surry Community College (NC)
- T-648. New Mexico Junior College (NM)
- T-648. Florence-Darlington Technical College (SC)
- T-652. Compton College (CA)
- T-652. Southern University at Shreveport (LA)
- Lowest
- T-1. Minnesota North College (MN)
- T-1. Moorpark College (CA)
- T-1. Norco College (CA)
- T-1. Olney Central College (IL)
- T-1. William Rainey Harper College (IL)
- Highest
- 570. Southeastern Community College (NC)
- 571. Halifax Community College (NC)
- T-572. Piedmont Community College (NC)
- T-572. John A Logan College (IL)
- T-572. James Sprunt Community College (NC)
In-Depth Look at the Best Community Colleges
State Technical College of Missouri
The State Technical College of Missouri, located in Osage County, MO, is the best community college, in part because 90% of students stay with the school from the first year to the second year, the best retention rate in the country, and 79% of students graduate – the best graduation rate in the country.
In addition, the school’s students receive the third-largest amount of grant or scholarship aid, at an average of $9,223 per student. This helps make it extremely unlikely that students will default on any loans they do have to take out.
Lastly, the State Technical College of Missouri also offers credit for life experiences and provides employment services to students, which can help them graduate more quickly and obtain jobs sooner.
Manhattan Area Technical College
Manhattan Area Technical College in Manhattan, KS, ranks as the second-best community college in 2025, in large part because it puts students on track for good future earnings. Over 77% of former students earn more than the average income of people with only a high school education (between ages 25 and 34). Graduates also have a median salary of nearly $52,000, the 12th-highest among the schools in our study. Plus, the college offers employment services to help students find jobs.
In addition, Manhattan Area Technical College has the lowest student-loan default rate, the fifth-highest graduation rate and the ninth-best retention rate of students between year one and year two.
Finally, Manhattan Area Technical College offers credit for certain life experiences such as volunteer experience or special training outside of school.
Pratt Community College
Pratt Community College, located in Pratt, KS, is the third-best community college in the U.S. Over 92% of the college’s instructional and research staff are full-time employees, the third-highest rate in the country. In addition, Pratt graduates are very unlikely to default on their debt, and they have the 11th-highest median income, at $51,892.
Pratt also offers employment services for students and gives credit for life experiences. To top things off, students get fairly high grants and scholarships, at an average of over $6,700 each.
Rankings by State
Ask the Experts
With college costs rising and more Americans pursuing degrees, community-college proves to be an attractive option for many students. For advice on improving the U.S. community-college system, we asked a panel of experts to weigh in with their thoughts on the following key questions:
- Do you think that making community college tuition-free will increase enrollment and graduation rates?
- What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates?
- Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce through career and technical education or on preparing graduates to move to a four-year college?
- In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top five indicators?
- What is the outlook for community college education in 2025?
Ask the Experts
J.D., Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Educational Leadership & Higher Education, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education and Human Development; Associate Professor, School of Law (courtesy) – Boston College
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Monan University Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, Center for International Higher Education - Boston College
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Assistant Professor of Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership at the University of Memphis
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Ph.D. – Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director, M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling - Grand Valley State University
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Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education & Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Education - Rutgers University - New Brunswick
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Ph.D., Professor, School of Education - Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
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Methodology
In order to determine the best community colleges in the U.S., WalletHub selected a sample of 653 schools from the list of member institutions in the American Association of Community Colleges. Due to data limitations, we were not able to include all member schools. Please note that the AACC is not affiliated whatsoever with WalletHub and was used strictly as an informational resource.
We evaluated the schools based on three key dimensions, including: 1) Cost & Financing, 2) Education Outcomes and 3) Career Outcomes. We constructed the three dimensions using 18 total metrics, each grouped with related metrics in the appropriate category and listed below with its corresponding weight. We graded each metric on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best community college.
Finally, we determined each school’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Cost & Financing – Total Points: 33.33
- Cost of In-State Tuition & Fees: Double Weight (~6.06 Points)
- Presence of Free Community-College Education: Triple Weight (~9.09 Points)
Note: This metric considers the presence or absence of legislation to provide free community-college education or if such legislation is currently under consideration. - Average Amount of Grant or Scholarship Aid Received: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
- Availability of Employment Services for Students: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of “activities intended to assist students in obtaining part-time employment as a means of defraying part of the cost of their education,” as described by the National Center for Education Statistics. - Per-Pupil Spending: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
- School Spending Efficiency: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing per-pupil spending by the cost of in-state tuition and fees. - Faculty Salary: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
Note: This metric was adjusted for the local cost of living. - Core Revenues per FTE Enrollment: Full Weight (~3.03 Points)
Note: This composite metric refers to revenues per FTE enrollment for public institutions using GASB standard for the following: 1) Revenues from State Appropriations per FTE Enrollment; 2) Revenues from Local Appropriations per FTE Enrollment; 3) Revenues from Government Grants and Contracts per FTE Enrollment and 4) Revenues from Private Gifts, Grants, and Contracts per FTE Enrollment.
Education Outcomes – Total Points: 33.33
- First-Year Retention Rate: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
- Graduation Rate: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
- Transfer-Out Rate: Half Weight (~2.56 Points)
- Credentials Awarded per 100 Full-Time-Equivalent Students: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
Note: “Credentials” refer to degrees and certificates. - Student-Faculty Ratio: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
- Share of Full-Time Faculty: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
- Presence of Credit for Life Experiences: Full Weight (~5.13 Points)
Note: This binary metric considers the presence or absence of “credit for life experiences” option. Life experience credits can be acquired through certain activities such as community work, volunteerism, seminars, workshops, skills training, or participation in a nonprofit organization and can be converted to academic credits.
Career Outcomes – Total Points: 33.33
- Student-Loan Default Rate: Full Weight (~11.11 Points)
- Median Salary after Attending: Full Weight (~11.11 Points)
Note: This metric measures the median earnings — 10 years after entering the school. - Share of Former Students Earning Above the Average Earnings of a High School Graduate: Full Weight (~11.11 Points)
Note: This metric measures the share of former students earning more than $25,000, or about the average earnings of a high school graduate aged 25 to 34, six years after they first enrolled.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of July 15, 2025 from the National Center for Education Statistics, Campaign for Free College Tuition, U.S. Department of Education and Council for Community & Economic Research.
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