College prices are going up, so what state has the lowest tuition? Wyoming does and you can find out why in this article by James Marshall Crotty of Forbes.

Wyoming Has Lowest College Tuition In America

It might seem strange at first to pick a college primarily based on tuition. However, sometimes the price is so good, and the financial need so great, you have to put aside the legitimate criteria of ranking, geography and public versus private, and ask oneself: can I get a “good enough” education in my field at a college that is ridiculously under-priced compared to my other choices?

According to 2013 data from the College Board, the state of Wyoming offers the best deal on in-state college tuition and fees ($4,404/year) and second best deal – second only to Alaska — on out-of-state college tuition and fees ($14,124/year) among all 50 U.S. states. Those are prices at which any prospective student – and their families – should take a hard look. When you factor in the principal and interest on a college loan over the life of a loan – not to mention the inordinate savings on food, housing, and transportation that come from residing for four years in the Cowboy State – you are looking at savings of tens of thousands of dollars compared to almost any other state school in the land.

The key to its low tuition is that Wyoming state government significantly underwrites the cost of public education to the tune of $15,000 per fully enrolled student per year. In fact, there seems to be a strong general correlation between the level of state government underwriting and low state tuition costs. For example, New Hampshire – whose University of New Hampshire (UNH) Wildcats I saw lose Tuesday night to the UNO Mavericks in ice hockey at Omaha’s Century Link Arena – has the most expensive public college and university system in the nation. No surprise that The Granite State allocates only $2,482 of spending per student per year, by far the lowest level of per-pupil public college spending in the country.