Here are the most affordable colleges and universities in Michigan. Our list will help you find the right kind of school for you, at a price you can afford.
With over 80 public and private colleges to choose from, students hoping to earn their associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree can find a program that suits their educational needs and budget. Michigan State University and the University of Michigan are the two largest schools, both serving around 42,000 students and costing $16,000 in tuition. Most of the schools in The Wolverine State, however, serve smaller student populations, with tuition fees ranging from $3,000 to $49,000.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Additionally, students pursuing their degree at a school with religious affiliations have more than 20 options to choose from, including Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Grand Rapid’s Calvin College, and Hope College in Holland. Students attending one of Michigan’s private schools, like Davenport University, can earn their degrees in fields like nursing, education, criminal justice, and history. Michigan, like many other states, also provides a special loan forgiveness program to those in medical, dental, and mental health professions who work in underserved communities. Recipients can receive up to $200,000 of tax-free funds over an eight-year period.
The great state of Michigan famously serves as the major hub of the United States auto industry — and also boasts the longest freshwater coastline in the nation. Students who love the outdoors but are also drawn to the metropolitan energy of big cities like Detroit and Grand Rapids will feel very much at home in Michigan.
To find your degree program, explore some of the top schools in Michigan.
We’ve identified 23 affordable colleges and universities in Michigan, 20 of which have a stated tuitions and fees below the national average of $16,000/year.
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.
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
10%
Student body
8K
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Henry Ford College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
19%
Student body
7K
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Schoolcraft College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
21%
Student body
2K
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Lake Michigan College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
38%
Student body
<1K
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Alpena Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
23%
Student body
2K
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Northwestern Michigan College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
12%
Student body
3K
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Jackson College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
48%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1085/22
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Saginaw Valley State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
47%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/23
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Northern Michigan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
38%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/23
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University of Michigan–Flint’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
51%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1070/22
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Lake Superior State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
50%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/21
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Ferris State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
57%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1105/22
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Western Michigan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
47%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/22
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Eastern Michigan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
64%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/23
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Central Michigan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
69%
Student body
22K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/24
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Grand Valley State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
55%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
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University of Michigan–Dearborn’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
56%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1125/23
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Oakland University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
52%
Student body
20K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/24
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Wayne State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
81%
Student body
44K
Median SAT/ACT
1210/26
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Michigan State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$17K
Acceptance
26%
Graduation
93%
Student body
45K
Median SAT/ACT
1435/32
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University of Michigan’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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