# The sticker-to-net-price gap by state > What a year at a four-year college costs before aid, what aided first-year students pay on average after grants, and how far apart the two are in each state. Four-year public and private nonprofit colleges, U.S. College Scorecard data year 2025. - Edition: Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition - Page: https://www.collegesref.com/data/net-price-gap-by-state - Data (CSV): https://www.collegesref.com/data/net-price-gap-by-state.csv - Source reporting year: 2025 - Snapshot updated: November 4, 2026 - Colleges: 1,446 in 47 states (District of Columbia counted as a state) ## Key findings 1. Across 1,446 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges, the median cost of attendance is $39,947 and the median average net price is $19,830. The median college's gap between the two is $17,700. 2. Vermont has the widest median gap, $40,833 across 9 colleges; Montana has the narrowest, $5,210 across 9 colleges. 3. The median average net price is highest in Rhode Island ($37,087) and lowest in West Virginia ($11,350). ## State by state Sorted by median gap, widest first. All figures are medians across each state's colleges, in U.S. dollars for one academic year. | State | Colleges | Public | Private nonprofit | Median cost of attendance | Median average net price | Median gap | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | | Vermont | 9 | 2 | 7 | $69,043 | $31,387 | $40,833 | | Massachusetts | 59 | 12 | 47 | $64,601 | $26,309 | $34,819 | | Rhode Island | 10 | 2 | 8 | $69,151 | $37,087 | $32,492 | | Pennsylvania | 85 | 15 | 70 | $56,456 | $24,806 | $31,985 | | District of Columbia | 8 | 1 | 7 | $67,798 | $32,773 | $31,549 | | New Jersey | 26 | 12 | 14 | $44,513 | $18,457 | $31,275 | | Iowa | 25 | 2 | 23 | $53,336 | $22,894 | $29,380 | | Illinois | 48 | 12 | 36 | $46,137 | $18,143 | $27,314 | | California | 83 | 32 | 51 | $47,842 | $22,597 | $26,714 | | Connecticut | 21 | 6 | 15 | $58,797 | $28,356 | $25,922 | | New York | 104 | 40 | 64 | $48,271 | $21,674 | $25,471 | | Indiana | 37 | 13 | 24 | $44,140 | $18,728 | $24,985 | | Oregon | 17 | 7 | 10 | $48,645 | $22,547 | $24,795 | | Kansas | 24 | 7 | 17 | $47,792 | $20,443 | $24,346 | | Wisconsin | 31 | 13 | 18 | $47,431 | $20,293 | $24,047 | | North Carolina | 53 | 15 | 38 | $41,964 | $19,783 | $22,984 | | Kentucky | 21 | 5 | 16 | $42,017 | $17,991 | $21,689 | | Minnesota | 32 | 11 | 21 | $46,955 | $21,935 | $21,614 | | Michigan | 38 | 15 | 23 | $37,717 | $17,562 | $21,521 | | Virginia | 40 | 15 | 25 | $43,585 | $22,206 | $21,416 | | Ohio | 63 | 23 | 40 | $45,177 | $20,633 | $21,167 | | Arizona | 8 | 4 | 4 | $41,648 | $20,995 | $20,543 | | Tennessee | 37 | 9 | 28 | $39,109 | $18,130 | $17,335 | | Nebraska | 16 | 6 | 10 | $36,469 | $19,269 | $17,078 | | Maryland | 23 | 11 | 12 | $40,225 | $19,294 | $16,922 | | Washington | 27 | 14 | 13 | $32,722 | $21,201 | $16,307 | | Missouri | 40 | 13 | 27 | $36,814 | $19,136 | $15,487 | | South Carolina | 32 | 12 | 20 | $34,475 | $19,990 | $15,442 | | New Hampshire | 13 | 5 | 8 | $41,229 | $24,059 | $13,722 | | West Virginia | 17 | 12 | 5 | $24,890 | $11,350 | $13,696 | | New Mexico | 9 | 7 | 2 | $24,657 | $17,550 | $13,291 | | Texas | 74 | 34 | 40 | $30,052 | $16,577 | $13,216 | | Florida | 64 | 29 | 35 | $25,821 | $15,350 | $12,805 | | Colorado | 18 | 13 | 5 | $29,161 | $18,422 | $12,527 | | Louisiana | 19 | 12 | 7 | $25,426 | $13,357 | $12,296 | | Maine | 15 | 7 | 8 | $31,940 | $19,835 | $11,938 | | Idaho | 7 | 4 | 3 | $25,661 | $15,321 | $11,562 | | Alabama | 23 | 13 | 10 | $28,880 | $18,255 | $11,307 | | Oklahoma | 24 | 14 | 10 | $27,936 | $15,743 | $11,185 | | Hawaii | 7 | 3 | 4 | $25,270 | $17,608 | $11,090 | | Arkansas | 23 | 10 | 13 | $28,340 | $17,192 | $11,070 | | Mississippi | 16 | 8 | 8 | $28,433 | $16,435 | $10,425 | | Georgia | 52 | 25 | 27 | $28,586 | $15,911 | $10,410 | | Utah | 8 | 6 | 2 | $22,600 | $15,478 | $8,199 | | North Dakota | 8 | 6 | 2 | $23,198 | $14,856 | $8,162 | | South Dakota | 10 | 6 | 4 | $26,484 | $20,691 | $6,812 | | Montana | 9 | 6 | 3 | $26,512 | $21,302 | $5,210 | | **All reported colleges** | 1,446 | 559 | 887 | $39,947 | $19,830 | $17,700 | Too few colleges to report (fewer than 5): Alaska (4), Delaware (4), Nevada (4), Wyoming (1). ## Methodology - **Colleges counted.** Every college published on CollegesRef that is public or private nonprofit and in a four-year Carnegie class (doctoral, master's or baccalaureate), with both figures above zero and a reported data year. - **Exclusions.** For-profit colleges, two-year colleges, special-focus institutions and U.S. territories are left out, as are colleges that report no cost of attendance. - **Reporting threshold.** A state is reported only when at least 5 colleges qualify; states below it are listed under the table. - **Sticker price.** The cost of attendance a college reports for a full-time, first-year undergraduate for one academic year: tuition and fees, housing, food, books, supplies and other expenses (College Scorecard field COSTT4_A). Public colleges report it at the in-state price. - **Net price.** The average net price for first-time, full-time students who received grant aid: the same cost of attendance minus average grants and scholarships. The gap therefore measures how much grant aid lowers the price at the typical college. It can be negative when the two figures come from different student groups or reporting years. - **Medians.** Each figure is the median across a state's colleges, not weighted by enrollment. The median gap is the median of each college's own gap, so it need not equal the difference between the two other medians. ## Sources - U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/ - IPEDS (National Center for Education Statistics), source of the Scorecard cost figures and Carnegie classes: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ - The federal source data is a U.S. government work in the public domain (https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright). - CollegesRef methodology: https://www.collegesref.com/methodology ## How to cite CollegesRef, "The sticker-to-net-price gap by state," analysis of U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data (data year 2025), updated November 4, 2026. https://www.collegesref.com/data/net-price-gap-by-state --- Source: CollegesRef, https://www.collegesref.com/data/net-price-gap-by-state.