Public universities

32 universities in the directory carry this tag, across 29 states. Each profile lists admission requirements, published costs, test policy and deadlines.

Public Founded 1885

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

Acceptance: 90%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 65,000

An access-focused flagship with guaranteed admission for Arizona residents who meet published GPA and coursework thresholds.

Public Founded 1856

Auburn University

Auburn, Alabama

Acceptance: 52%
In-state tuition: $12,500
Undergrads: 26,000

A land-grant campus with aerospace and supply chain programmes linked to the aviation industry in the Southeast.

Public Founded 1889

Clemson University

Clemson, South Carolina

Acceptance: 43%
In-state tuition: $16,000
Undergrads: 22,000

A land-grant university whose automotive engineering centre partners directly with manufacturers in the Carolinas.

Public Founded 1851

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida

Acceptance: 25%
In-state tuition: $6,500
Undergrads: 33,000

Known for criminology, film and a guaranteed-pathway programme that starts qualified applicants in the summer term.

Public Founded 1820

Indiana University Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

Acceptance: 80%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 36,000

Home to the Kelley School of Business and the Jacobs School of Music, each with its own direct-admission standards.

Public Founded 1860

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Acceptance: 76%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 31,000

Louisiana's flagship land-grant and sea-grant university, with coastal and petroleum engineering tied to the Gulf economy.

Public Founded 1855

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

Acceptance: 83%
In-state tuition: $16,000
Undergrads: 40,000

One of the original land-grant universities, with a widely ranked supply chain management programme and broad access admissions.

Public Founded 1855

Pennsylvania State University

University Park, Pennsylvania

Acceptance: 55%
In-state tuition: $20,000
Undergrads: 41,000

A 24-campus system where students can start at a branch campus and finish the degree at University Park.

Public Founded 1876

Texas A&M University

College Station, Texas

Acceptance: 63%
In-state tuition: $13,000
Undergrads: 57,000

One of the largest universities in the United States, with a strong engineering pipeline and a corps of cadets tradition.

Public Founded 1870

The Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio

Acceptance: 53%
In-state tuition: $13,000
Undergrads: 46,000

One of the largest single-campus universities in the country, with an Early Action deadline that also governs scholarship review.

Public Founded 1831

University of Alabama

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Acceptance: 80%
In-state tuition: $11,900
Undergrads: 33,000

Publishes automatic merit scholarship tables for non-residents based on GPA and test scores, which draws a large out-of-state enrolment.

Public Founded 1885

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Acceptance: 87%
In-state tuition: $13,300
Undergrads: 40,000

A land-grant university with NASA-funded space science programmes and assured admission based on Arizona competency requirements.

Public Founded 1871

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Acceptance: 78%
In-state tuition: $10,000
Undergrads: 26,000

The Walton College of Business sits close to the retail and logistics corporate cluster of northwest Arkansas.

Public Founded 1876

University of Colorado Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Acceptance: 80%
In-state tuition: $13,000
Undergrads: 31,000

Aerospace and atmospheric science programmes run alongside federal laboratories based in Boulder.

Public Founded 1881

University of Connecticut

Storrs, Connecticut

Acceptance: 55%
In-state tuition: $20,000
Undergrads: 19,000

Connecticut's flagship, with regional campuses and direct-entry pathways into nursing and pharmacy.

Public Founded 1785

University of Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Acceptance: 39%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 31,000

The state's oldest public university, where in-state students frequently combine admission with the HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships.

Public Founded 1907

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Honolulu, Hawaii

Acceptance: 73%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 13,000

Oceanography and astronomy programmes draw on observatories and marine research stations across the Hawaiian islands.

Public Founded 1847

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

Acceptance: 85%
In-state tuition: $10,900
Undergrads: 22,000

A UNESCO City of Literature whose Writers' Workshop has trained a long list of published novelists and poets.

Public Founded 1865

University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Acceptance: 88%
In-state tuition: $11,800
Undergrads: 20,000

Assured admission is published as a GPA threshold, so qualified applicants receive decisions within weeks of applying.

Public Founded 1865

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Acceptance: 94%
In-state tuition: $13,000
Undergrads: 23,000

An open-access flagship with an academic medical centre that serves as a clinical site for health sciences students.

Public Founded 1851

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Acceptance: 73%
In-state tuition: $16,000
Undergrads: 37,000

A two-campus flagship that reviews applications in priority waves, so earlier files receive earlier scholarship decisions.

Public Founded 1839

University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

Acceptance: 78%
In-state tuition: $12,500
Undergrads: 24,000

The Missouri School of Journalism runs professional newsrooms, including an NBC affiliate, as teaching laboratories.

Public Founded 1869

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska

Acceptance: 80%
In-state tuition: $10,000
Undergrads: 19,000

A land-grant flagship with agricultural research stations across the state and low published in-state tuition.

Public Founded 1957

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Acceptance: 85%
In-state tuition: $9,000
Undergrads: 26,000

Its hospitality college uses the Las Vegas resort industry as a teaching laboratory and internship pipeline.

Public Founded 1889

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Acceptance: 96%
In-state tuition: $8,900
Undergrads: 16,000

A Hispanic-Serving Institution and research university with one of the lowest application fees among state flagships.

Public Founded 1890

University of Oklahoma

Norman, Oklahoma

Acceptance: 75%
In-state tuition: $12,000
Undergrads: 22,000

The National Weather Center on campus anchors one of the largest meteorology programmes in the United States.

Public Founded 1876

University of Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Acceptance: 86%
In-state tuition: $14,000
Undergrads: 19,000

Reviews applications without test scores and weights the high school transcript and essay most heavily.

Public Founded 1801

University of South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Acceptance: 64%
In-state tuition: $12,700
Undergrads: 28,000

The Darla Moore School of Business built its reputation on a required international business and language track.

Public Founded 1794

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

Acceptance: 68%
In-state tuition: $13,500
Undergrads: 28,000

Tennessee's land-grant flagship, partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory for undergraduate research placements.

Public Founded 1850

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Acceptance: 89%
In-state tuition: $10,000
Undergrads: 27,000

A research flagship with a games and computer graphics programme that grew out of the university's early computing laboratory.

Public Founded 1872

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

Acceptance: 57%
In-state tuition: $15,000
Undergrads: 30,000

A land-grant polytechnic whose engineering college admits first-year students into a general engineering track before they choose a discipline.

Public Founded 1867

West Virginia University

Morgantown, West Virginia

Acceptance: 89%
In-state tuition: $9,900
Undergrads: 20,000

A land-grant flagship with a forensic and investigative science programme developed with federal law enforcement agencies.

About this grouping

Tags describe a shared characteristic — funding model, academic emphasis, campus scale or cost level — and are assigned editorially from public institutional information. They are a navigation aid, not an assessment. A university appearing here is not ranked above or below any other, and institutions may carry several tags at once.

States represented: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.