Public universities receive state funding and offer lower tuition to residents. Private colleges rely on tuition and endowment, and some of the best-endowed among them can offer aid packages that beat a public sticker price.
Class size and who teaches
Large publics use graduate instructors for many introductory sections. Small privates and liberal arts colleges usually have faculty in every classroom. Our faculty section on each profile shows which model a school follows.
Where the label misleads
Some publics run honors colleges that behave like small privates, and some privates run programs at public scale. Judge the program you would actually enroll in, not the institution's category.
Out-of-state publics
Once you cross a state line, a public university's price often matches a private's. Check the out-of-state figure on the profile before assuming a public is the cheaper choice.