Arizona · College costs

What College Actually Costs in Arizona

Sticker price is close to meaningless. The number that matters is net price: what a typical first-year family pays after grants and scholarships come off. Across the 5 four-year colleges we track in Arizona, the median net price is $15,820. That is $4,036 below the $19,857 median across every college we track.

The headline numbers

MeasureValue
Median net price (what families pay)$15,820
Median published in-state tuition$13,468
Median published out-of-state tuition$31,510
Median federal loan debt at graduation$13,610
Median earnings 10 years after entry$59,979
Four-year colleges covered5

Lowest net price in Arizona

Ranked by what families actually pay, not by published tuition. Graduation rate and earnings are shown beside it, because a cheap college you do not finish is not a saving.

CollegeAvg. net priceGrad rateMedian earnings
Northern Arizona University$14,15861.3%$54,384
Arizona State University Campus Immersion$14,96768.0%$62,668
University of Arizona$16,67467.5%$59,979
Grand Canyon University$22,47243.5%$42,186

Strongest earnings ten years on

Median earnings of former students a decade after they first enrolled. It reflects the subjects a college teaches and who it admits as much as the teaching itself, so read it alongside cost rather than on its own.

CollegeAvg. net priceGrad rateMedian earnings
Arizona State University Campus Immersion$14,96768.0%$62,668
Arizona State University Digital ImmersionNot reported0.0%$62,668
University of Arizona$16,67467.5%$59,979
Northern Arizona University$14,15861.3%$54,384
Grand Canyon University$22,47243.5%$42,186

Questions worth asking before you pay

Ask every college on the list for its net price calculator and run it with your real numbers — the published average hides enormous variation by income. Ask what share of need it meets, whether aid is renewable for four years, and what the graduation rate is for students receiving Pell grants specifically. That last figure is on each of our college profiles and is the one most likely to be missing from a glossy brochure.

Where does your child's score land?

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Frequently asked questions

How much does college cost in Arizona?

Across the 5 four-year colleges we track in Arizona, the median net price — what a typical first-year family actually pays after grant aid — is $15,820. Published tuition is $13,468 in-state and $31,510 out-of-state, but very few families pay the sticker price.

What is the cheapest college in Arizona?

By average net price, Northern Arizona University at $14,158 per year, according to the most recent federal data.

How much debt do students leave Arizona colleges with?

The median federal loan debt at graduation is $13,610. That covers federal loans only, so private and parent borrowing sits on top of it.

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Net price is the average for first-year students receiving federal aid and varies sharply by family income. Figures can lag the current admissions cycle.

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