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2021 Best Colleges for the Money (With No Aid) in Arizona

12 Colleges
$33,463 Avg Cost (Without Aid)*
4.3 Years Avg Time to Graduate*

Choosing which college to attend may be one of the most important decisions in your life. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Best Arizona Schools For The Money For Those With No Aid ranking - to help you make that decision.

After analyzing 12 schools, we came up with our list of those that were the best for overall value for the money with no aid in Arizona. It's important to note that this isn't just a listing of colleges and universities with the lowest sticker price. Instead, this ranking identifies schools that offer a high quality educational experience at a lower-than-expected price. Thus, one college may rank better than another, but the second school could have a lower average cost.

Get more details on our ranking methodology.

Our average cost calculation adds up all expenses, such as tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, and other expenses. So it is an approximation of how much you will have to pay out-of-pocket each year on average.

Customizing Your List

Since one ranking on its own is not enough to give you a complete understanding of your educational options, you can refine this list by location and field of study. We've also developed a number of other tools and rankings based on other factors. These other rankings highlight colleges that excel in other factors such as overall quality or diversity as well as schools that excel in serving different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head!

Top Colleges for the Money (Without Aid) in Arizona

Learn more about these excellent schools below:

#1

Arizona State University - West

Glendale, Arizona

Arizona State University - West tops this year’s ranking as the best school for overall value for the money with no aid in Arizona. ASU - West is a public institution located in Glendale, Arizona. The school has a small population, and it awarded 932 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

At ASU - West, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.2 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $27,318 for students who receive no aid. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from ASU - West is $115,555. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, ASU - West is ranked #3 for overall quality in Arizona.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Tempe. The school came in at #2 in Arizona on this year’s best value ranking. ASU - Tempe is a public institution located in Tempe, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 10,401 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

At ASU - Tempe, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.3 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $29,103 for students who receive no aid. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from ASU - Tempe is $125,143. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, ASU - Tempe is ranked #1 for overall quality in Arizona.

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#3

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

A rank of #3 on our Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list means University of Arizona is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree. Arizona is a large public school situated in Tucson, Arizona. It awarded 8,231 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

The average student at Arizona graduates in less than 4.3 years, and it costs students who receive no aid about $29,729 per year to attend the school. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from Arizona is about $128,727. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.

Arizona also took the #4 spot in our Best Colleges in Arizona rankings.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Downtown Phoenix. The school came in at #4 in Arizona on this year’s best value ranking. Arizona State University - Downtown Phoenix is a fairly large public school located in Phoenix, Arizona that handed out 2,261 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

It takes the average student at ASU - Downtown Phoenix about 4.2 years to graduate, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $30,863 for students who receive no aid. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from ASU - Downtown Phoenix be around $129,007. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. ASU - Downtown Phoenix also took the #5 spot in our Best Colleges in Arizona rankings.

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A rank of #5 on our Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list means Arizona State University - Polytechnic is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree. ASU - Polytechnic is located in Mesa, Arizona and has a medium-sized student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 1,039 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergradutates.

It takes about 4.3 years for the average student at ASU - Polytechnic to complete their degree, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $28,132 for students who receive no aid. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from ASU - Polytechnic be around $120,686. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.

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#6

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, Arizona

With a ranking of #6, Northern Arizona University did quite well on the 2021 Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list. This large public school is located in Flagstaff, Arizona, and it awarded 6,248 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

At NAU, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.3 years, and it costs students who receive no aid about $27,396 per year to attend the school. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from NAU is $119,173. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.

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#7

Arizona State University - Skysong

Scottsdale, Arizona

Arizona State University - Skysong ranked #7 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list. ASU - Skysong is located in Scottsdale, Arizona and has a large student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 4,737 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergradutates.

At ASU - Skysong, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.4 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $26,907 for students who receive no aid. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the ASU - Skysong is $118,391. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.

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Embry Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott landed the #8 spot on the 2021 Best Value Colleges in Arizona ranking. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Prescott, Arizona, and it awarded 466 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

It takes the average student at Embry Riddle Prescott about 4.4 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $54,536 for students who receive no aid. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from Embry Riddle Prescott is $240,504. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Embry Riddle Prescott is ranked #2 for overall quality in Arizona.

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University of Advancing Technology ranked #9 on this year’s Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list. Located in Tempe, Arizona, the small private for-profit school handed out 135 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

At University of Advancing Technology, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.3 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $26,264 for students who receive no aid. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from University of Advancing Technology be around $111,885. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.

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#10

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, Arizona

With a ranking of #10, Grand Canyon University did quite well on the 2021 Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona list. Phoenix, Arizona is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 11,319 students in 2018-2019.

At Grand Canyon University, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.2 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $31,476 for students who receive no aid. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from Grand Canyon University is $133,143. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

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#11

Prescott College

Prescott, Arizona

Prescott College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for the Money in Arizona ranking. Located in Prescott, Arizona, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 104 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

At Prescot College, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.4 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $44,499 for students who receive no aid. This means that the average student pays around $194,016 to get a bachelor’s degree from Prescot College. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.

The student-to-faculty rate of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

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#12

Arizona Christian University

Phoenix, Arizona

Arizona Christian University landed the #12 spot on the 2021 Best Value Colleges in Arizona ranking. Arizona Christian University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Phoenix, Arizona that handed out 138 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.

It takes about 4.0 years for the average student at Arizona Christian University to complete their degree, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $45,338 for students who receive no aid. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from Arizona Christian University is about $181,352. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

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Best Colleges in the Southwest Region

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*These averages are for the top 12 schools only.

  • For our state-specific rankings, we use in-state tuition to calculate average cost. For our national and regional rankings, we use a weighted average of in-state and non-resident tuition.

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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