The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
For some students, dorm life is a major part of the college experience. And it doesn’t always come with a hefty price tag.
Among the 1,022 ranked colleges that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average cost of room and board for the 2016-2017 school year is $10,692. In this case, room and board refers to a shared room and either 19 meals per week or the maximum meal plan.
The average fee at the 10 colleges where 2016-2017 room and board costs the least is $5,326.
[Learn more about paying for college.]
College applicants will generally find schools charging the least for room and board in the South, with three schools on the list in Mississippi and two in Alabama, along with others in Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi.
Most of the schools on the list are also either Regional Colleges — which focus on undergraduate education but offer fewer than half of degrees in liberal arts disciplines — or Regional Universities, which offer a wide range of undergraduate programs and some master’s but few doctoral programs.
On the other side of the spectrum, the three schools where room and board is the most expensive for 2016-2017 were all in New York: The New School, charging $18,420; Pace University, at $18,280; and New York University, at $17,578.
[Discover the schools with the highest and lowest tuition in each state.]
Two schools on the list — Rust College and Blue Mountain College, both in Mississippi — are also among the private colleges with the lowest tuition.
Below are the 10 ranked colleges that charge the least for room and board in the 2016-2017 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (name) | 2016-2017 room and board | U.S. News rank and category |
| Rust College (MS) | $4,100 | 52 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) |
| William Carey University (MS) | $4,260 | 41 (tie), Regional Universities (South) |
| Southwestern Oklahoma State University | $5,220 | RNP*, Regional Universities (West) |
| Alabama State University | $5,422 | RNP, Regional Universities (South) |
| Louisiana College | $5,479 | RNP, Regional Universities (South) |
| Auburn University–Montgomery (AL) | $5,650 | RNP, Regional Universities (South) |
| Indian River State College (FL) | $5,700 | RNP, Regional Colleges (South) |
| University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma | $5,720 | RNP, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Blue Mountain College (MS) | $5,839 | 7, Regional Colleges (South) |
| Utah State University | $5,870 | 220 (tie), National Universities |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find room and board data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The room and board data above are correct as of March 7, 2017.
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10 Colleges That Charge the Least for Room and Board originally appeared on usnews.com
