Ranked, compared, and filtered by real data: costs, outcomes, and admissions
The University of Montana in Missoula and Montana State in Bozeman are both small by national standards, but they serve a state where the landscape itself shapes what students study. Wildlife biology, forestry, environmental law, and agricultural economics are not abstractions here; they are careers with direct application within the state's borders.
The quality of life and access to public lands draw students from across the country who want their education in a particular kind of place, and both campuses have built research programs that reflect their setting.
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See how Montana's colleges compare to the national average on the four measures most students and families weigh when deciding where to go: cost, acceptance rates, graduate earnings, and graduation rates.
The colleges in Montana that rank highest by UCD Score, and those that deliver above-national graduate earnings at a below-average net price, two of the strongest signals when choosing a school.
Not every student is looking for the same thing. These six panels rank Montana's colleges by the data that matters most for each path.
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by net price
Ranked by enrollment
Ranked by grad earnings
Which colleges give you the most for what you spend? These eight schools rank highest in Montana by the ratio of 10-year graduate earnings to annual net price.
| # | College | Net Price / yr | Earnings (10yr) | Ratio | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Peck Community College Poplar | $400 | $14,747 | 36.9× | Excellent |
| 2 | Stone Child College Box Elder | $4,424 | $24,555 | 5.6× | Excellent |
| 3 | Flathead Valley Community College Kalispell | $8,099 | $38,520 | 4.8× | Excellent |
| 4 | Blackfeet Community College Browning | $5,410 | $22,953 | 4.2× | Excellent |
| 5 | Dawson Community College Glendive | $9,931 | $41,951 | 4.2× | Excellent |
| 6 | Miles Community College Miles City | $10,405 | $42,862 | 4.1× | Excellent |
| 7 | Salish Kootenai College Pablo | $7,945 | $32,725 | 4.1× | Excellent |
| 8 | Montana State University-Northern Havre | $12,664 | $49,505 | 3.9× | Strong |
ROI Ratio = median earnings 10 years after enrollment ÷ annual net price. Higher is better.
The six fields of study with the most annual graduates across all colleges in Montana, based on IPEDS completion data.
The specific degree programs producing the most graduates across Montana's colleges. A more granular view than the Popular Majors above, useful when you already know roughly what you want to study and want to see where the volume is.
Careers with a strong employment footprint in Montana. What graduates from local colleges actually go on to do. State-level employment is shown where the BLS publishes it; national wage + growth shown alongside.
The cities in Montana with the most colleges, ranked by number of institutions.
Utah crowds 14,137 students into each of its colleges, four times the national norm. These are the states where college options are scarcest per student.
There are 170 colleges that operate a medical school, and they cluster hard. Texas leads with 14, three states hold a fifth of them, and four states have none.
Northeast college graduates earn about $12,700 more a decade out than Southern ones, but they also pay thousands more to get there. The regional split, by the numbers.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
Scout uses AI and can make mistakes. Verify important numbers on the page.
