Here are the most affordable colleges and universities in Idaho. Our list will help you find the right kind of school for you, at a price you can afford.
Just over half of the 13 colleges and universities in Idaho are public schools. Boise State University, Idaho’s largest public university, serves roughly 17,000 students. Here, students can pursue degrees in fields like communications, earth sciences, and engineering. Idaho is also home to five private schools, including the state’s largest school, Brigham Young University Idaho, which has a student population of nearly 49,000 students.
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While students at BYU school can expect to pay around $4,000 in tuition, well below the national average, the other private school tuition costs range between $13,000 to $30,000. The majority of Idaho’s colleges and universities can be considered small schools, serving student populations of 4,000 or less. However, the state’s largest schools offer the most affordable tuition fees, ranging from as little as $4,000 to $8,000. Students who pursue their degrees in Idaho can study fields like chemistry, law, and anthropology at the University of Idaho or religious studies, psychology, and literature at New Saint Andrews College. Additionally, Idaho offers a loan forgiveness program of up to $100,000 to physicians who work in the state’s rural areas.
French fries, mashed potatoes, tater tots, and even potato-inspired ice cream — Idaho is, as per its reputation, a potato lover’s dream. But it’s not all spuds in this state. Along with countless hiking trails, rivers perfect for rafting trips, and 72 types of gemstones, this state offers higher education institutes with competitive tuition fees and programs.
For more information, explore some of Idaho’s top programs and future career possibilities.
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.
There are 6 colleges and universities in Idaho with stated tuitions and fees under $20,000/year. The following list of the most affordable colleges and universities in Idaho is composed entirely of schools offering bachelor’s degree programs, have stated tuition and fees near or under the national average of $16,000/year, and are fully accredited colleges.
These schools are ranked by academic excellence, and all under $20,000/year.
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
59%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1125/23
University of Idaho’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
55%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1130/23
Boise State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
34%
Student body
9K
Idaho State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
56%
Student body
43K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/22
Brigham Young University–Idaho’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
69%
Student body
<1K
New Saint Andrews College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
100%
Graduation
36%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
990/19
Lewis–Clark State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in: