Public colleges and universities account for almost 75 percent of all undergraduate students in the U.S. The best public colleges in Kansas provide broad access to reputable degree programs, affordable tuition, and sprawling educational communities.
Beyond the 23 community and technical colleges, Kansas also has nine public universities, the largest being the University of Kansas (KU) with over 28,000 students. The school’s main campus is located in Lawrence, Kansas, but there are four other locations where students can attend KU classes: Overland Park, Kansas City, Wichita, and Salina. Kansas is also home to 22 private higher education institutions, with tuition ranging from $7,000 to $31,000.
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In addition, students can choose from one of 18 religiously affiliated schools, including Newman University, Wichita — a Catholic liberal arts university serving the state’s largest private school student population at just over 2,000. Just under the national tuition average at $9,230, Kansas is also an affordable state in which to earn your degree. The state awards associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in common fields of study, like economics, nursing, business, and education. Specialized degrees include aerospace engineering at the University of Kansas and agribusiness from Kansas State University. Those in the medical and health fields can check out loan forgiveness programs, such as the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, which awards up to $50,000, tax free, for those who serve two years at an approved site.
Arguably, it was the 1939 cinema classic, The Wizard of Oz, that put Kansas on the map. But The Sunflower State is also known for its mouth-watering barbecue, open plains, and vast sunflower fields. Prospective students can also choose from 50 colleges and universities across this Midwestern state.
See what Kansas has to offer by checking out the top programs and career paths available.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
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.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
This list is composed entirely of public colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 7 public universities in Kansas, all of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best public universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
63%
Student body
23K
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University of Kansas’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
68%
Student body
18K
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Kansas State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
51%
Student body
4K
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Washburn University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
48%
Student body
12K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/23
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Wichita State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
53%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/21
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Pittsburg State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
86%
Graduation
46%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1002/22
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Emporia State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
46%
Student body
10K
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Fort Hays State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
What are Custom College Rankings?
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