The 30 Best Community Colleges in the U.S.

Community college is an economical alternative to a traditional four-year institution—or a great way to get some credits off your plate before transfering to the latter. WalletHub recently evaluated 653 community colleges in the U.S. to find the most quality spots from coast to coast.

One key metric in the study, naturally, was cost. Researchers looked at in-state tuition rates—giving extra points to schools in places where laws guarantee a free community-college education—and the average totals of grants and scholarships, among other financial data. The two other big categories were education outcomes (which includes factors like graduation rate and student-faculty ratio) and career outcomes (former students’ median salary, etc.). The schools were then ranked on a 100-point scale.

Kansas’s Manhattan Area Technical College came out on top with 70.63 points. It shined in performance in education outcomes (ranking fourth) and career outcomes (sixth place), which offset a dismal showing in cost and financing; in that category alone, it was way down in 469th place. The runner-up, State Technical College of Missouri, tells a similar story: seventh and eighth places in education and career outcomes, respectively, but 410th place in cost and financing. In short, the so-called “best” schools may not be the best for students whose top criterion is affordability.

The state with the most colleges in the top 30 was California. The highest of its seven entries was Irvine Valley College in sixth place; its lowest was Norco College in 27th place. New Mexico, Connecticut, and Kansas each had a handful of schools on the list as well.

You can see the top 30 community colleges below, and find out more details about WalletHub’s study (including the full ranking of all 653 contenders) here.

Ranking	Name	Location	Score
1.	Manhattan Area Technical College	Manhattan, Kansas	70.63
2.	State Technical College of Missouri	Linn, Missouri	70.5
3.	Pratt Community College	Pratt, Kansas	68.09
4.	Santa Fe Community College	Santa Fe, New Mexico	67.84
5.	Southeast New Mexico College	Carlsbad, New Mexico	67.49
6.	Irvine Valley College	Irvine, California	67.48
7.	Moraine Park Technical College	Wisconsin (campuses in Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac, and West Bend)	67.45
8.	CT State Community College Asnuntuck	Enfield, Connecticut	67.17
9.	College of San Mateo	San Mateo, California	66.9
10.	Montgomery College	Montgomery County, Maryland (campuses in Rockville, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, and Germantown)	66.54
11.	Clackamas Community College	Oregon City, Oregon	66.52
12.	Moreno Valley College	Moreno Valley, California	66.48
13.	De Anza College	Cupertino, California	66.4
14.	Saddleback College	Mission Viejo, California	66.36
15.	San Juan College	Farmington, New Mexico	66.28
16.	Santa Rosa Junior College	Santa Rosa, California	66.23
17.	CT State Community College Naugatuck Valley	Waterbury, Connecticut	66.17
18.	Northland Community & Technical College	Minnesota (campuses in Thief River Falls and East Grand Forks)	65.86
19.	CT State Community College Manchester	Manchester, Connecticut	65.85
20.	Casper College	Casper, Wyoming	65.83
21.	Kellogg Community College	Battle Creek, Michigan	65.76
22.	Alexandria Technical & Community College	Alexandria, Minnesota	65.74
23.	Central New Mexico Community College	Albuquerque, New Mexico	65.7
24.	Blue Mountain Community College	Pendleton, Oregon	65.6
25. (tie)	Colby Community College	Colby, Kansas	65.48
25. (tie)	Northwest Iowa Community College	Sheldon, Iowa	65.48
26.	Fox Valley Technical College	Wisconsin (campuses in Appleton and Oshkosh)	65.45
27.	Norco College	Norco, California	65.35
28.	Carroll Community College	Westminster, Maryland	65.28
29.	Lake Area Technical College	Watertown, South Dakota	65.21

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